


The Two Constants

by QuoteMyFoot



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters: X & Y | Pokemon X & Y Versions
Genre: Gen, Pokemon Journey, Pokemon X&Y wrecked my headcanon of pokemon being an AU earth but i've tried to rescue it anyway, Trying to make Team Flare good villains, Worldbuilding, background Korrina/Diantha but REALLY background don't get excited, female main character, gen - Freeform, pokemon team as secondary characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-11
Updated: 2018-08-13
Packaged: 2019-03-29 17:58:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 24
Words: 120,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13932300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuoteMyFoot/pseuds/QuoteMyFoot
Summary: Avaline sees Professor Sycamore's request to investigate the legend of mega evolution as an opportunity to fall in love with her new home, Kalos. She, Calem and Shauna soon find that mega evolution isn't a myth, but a power capable of subduing even the legendary pokemon, Yveltal and Xerneas. And power can always be misused...A Pokemon Y novelisation with some artistic license.





	1. Home Sweet Home

For a few moments after she woke up, Avaline didn't know where she was. She sighed. Even though Mum had decorated her new room with all the colours she'd chosen, and spent an hour last night helping Avaline get all the furniture into the right positions, it still felt like a stranger's room. _I wonder if it will ever feel like home?_

Her internet research had suggested that Kalos was much wetter than Johto, but sunlight was streaming through the window. Avaline took a deep breath and threw back the covers. It would be a shame to waste such a beautiful day.

Half an hour later, dressed in her favourite pink skirt and a white blouse, having managed to corral her long blonde hair into a ponytail approaching fashionable (she always despaired that her hair could never look as perfect as her clothes), Avaline went downstairs with a huge smile on her face. It was only about 30% fake. Mum had invested so much into this move and Avaline didn't want to disappoint her by being negative on their first day here as a family.

Mum was already cooking breakfast, the smell of pancakes making Avaline's stomach growl. "You looked so exhausted last night, I'm surprised to see you up so early."

"The sun woke me up," Avaline said. "I thought it was supposed to rain here?"

Her mother laughed. "Oh, it does, even in the summer. Just wait until it gets closer to winter! You get the absolute best lightning storms..."

And then her mother was lost in another one of her childhood anecdotes. Avaline felt a little homesick but it was nice to see her mother smile like that. Grace's career as a rhyhorn racer had taken her all over the world at various times in her life, until she had Avaline and decided to stay in Johto. Even then, she always talked to Avaline about the beauty of the Kalos region where she'd grown up. When Avaline was very small, it had seemed like a fairy tale land and she'd imagined living there in princess-like fashion.

That was before she'd realised what leaving behind the only home she'd ever own really meant. For all of her mother's stories, Kalos was still a strange place to her. Avaline had grown up speaking her mother's native tongue, but several people at the airport had commented on her strange accent. Most of them had just been innocently curious but one old gentlemen had looked down his nose at her like she was a piece of dirt.

Avaline hoped it wasn't a bad omen.

Still, she tried to put her worries aside whilst her mother chatted over breakfast, telling herself firmly that she had to make the most of the opportunities in Kalos or the place would never feel like home.

"...And it turns out that one of our neighbours and her husband are famous trainers in the Kalos region and their son will be starting on his own journey soon, so I thought it would be fun to meet him."

Avaline nodded, trying not to feel too downhearted at the thought of Appa, the cute little phanpy she'd left behind in Johto. There were strict laws about transporting pokemon species across borders and phanpy weren't native to Kalos. He'd always been so cheerful and sweet. She'd left him with her best friend, Mariko, so she could be sure he had a good home but it had been heartbreaking saying goodbye. Pokemon were very intelligent but it was hard to explain to Appa why he couldn't come with her. Avaline hoped Appa knew she really loved and missed him.

Something must have shown on Avaline's face because she realised suddenly she'd been so lost in thought that she'd completely lost track of the conversation, and looked up from her plate to see her mother looking at her with a sad expression. "Oh, Avaline, I know it's hard to say goodbye. But you'll be able to see how Appa is doing and make new pokemon friends in Kalos."

"Yeah, I know," Avaline said, trying to recover some of her optimism. Besides, Mum had left some pokemon companions behind in Johto too; it wouldn't do either of them any good to dwell. "So, did you meet the neighbours' kid? What's he like?"

To Avaline's relief her mother seized on the change of subject. "Well, his name is Calem. I only met him once but he seems quite a serious type. Still, he's very interested in pokemon so I'm sure you two would get along. And I know he has another friend in town, but I didn't meet them yet."

Avaline tried not to look too dismayed; she'd known Vaniville Town would be much, _much_ smaller than Goldenrod City, but seriously?

"I'm sure it'll be nice to meet them," she said diplomatically.

"I know Vaniville is much smaller than you're used to, but once you've settled in, you'll really love Kalos, I'm sure of it."

She was saved from having to come up with a reply when there was a loud growl from outside. Mum rolled her eyes.

Avaline stood up quickly. They would probably still have to have this awkward conversation later, but that was, well, _later_. "I'll get him."

"That old rhyhorn is getting too spoiled," Mum muttered under her breath, like she wasn't the one who had spoiled him. She stuck her head out the window. "Did you hear that, Roran?! _Don't make me put you on a diet again!_ "

Avaline felt the low, grumbling response through her feet, and laughed.

 

Roran had been Mum's first racer, and a part of their family ever since Avaline could remember. To a lot of people he looked scary, but she knew he was a big softy. He munched away on his food quite happily.

Come to think of it, Roran was born in Kalos too.

"Is it nice to be home, Roran?"

Roran made a contented sound, but that may have just been the food. Avaline rubbed behind his ear. "I'm half-Kalosian too, right?" she murmured. "I wish I felt like it."

Roran made a sad, husky noise.

"But I'm supposed to be thinking positive," Avaline reminded herself. She always felt better having someone to talk out loud to, and Roran was a great listener. "You know what, I bet Mum has a whole bunch of 'new house' chores for me. What do you say we ditch and go for a ride? Maybe we'll meet the neighbourhood kids."

Appa would have been wagging his tail. Roran looked like he definitely would have been, had he actually _had_ a tail. He swallowed the last bite of his food and hunkered down so she could climb on to his back. Maybe she shouldn't have worn a skirt. _Oh well, we won't be going far._

Most of Avaline's friends back home - back in Johto - had said riding a rhyhorn felt really weird. She couldn't really relate as she'd been riding Roran pretty much since she could walk. He wasn't as fast as he had been in his prime as a racer, but they still far outsped the average pedestrian and Avaline had to hold on to her hat to keep from losing it.

At least one person had to dodge out of their way. Avaline gave the flustered boy in a blue tracksuit a cheerful wave. The picture-perfect cottages of Vaniville, with their neatly trimmed hedges and stonework, flew past as they ran. Roran took a bite out of someone's flower bush. Avaline pretended to scold him but she was laughing too hard. Mum was going to be _so_ pissed.

After only a few minutes they came to what must have been the town square. Avaline had hoped the town would feel a little bigger than that. The flash of disappointment was quickly overtaken by delight at the beautiful square, though. In Goldenrod City, there were very few old buildings, since it had been a relatively small town until the monorail, racing track, and Whitney's Gym (then run by Whitney's aunt) had moved in. That was something that she liked immediately about Kalos, even just from seeing pictures of it; it felt like it had character, that even little towns like Vaniville had history and wisdom.

In the centre of the square was a beautiful, simple fountain, which must've been older than most of Goldenrod; the water feature in the centre was worn with weather and age. Two benches sat in the corner of the square, surrounded by well-kept flower pots which had a subtle, calming scent. Avaline went to sit whilst Roran helped himself to a drink from the fountain.

It seemed like a calm and tranquil morning. So Avaline was surprised when someone suddenly sat down next to her.

"I saw you from my bedroom window! You must be the rhyhorn racer's daughter! You were so cool!" the girl said all in one breath.

Avaline blinked at the newcomer, who seemed to be still wearing her pyjamas. This must be the other kid her mother had mentioned, although she was several inches shorter than Avaline and probably a few years younger. But maybe that was just the effect of the bed hair. At least she was enthusiastic? "Uh, yeah, that's me. I'm Avaline."

"My name is Shauna! It's nice to meet you," the girl said, apparently not feeling nearly as awkward about the situation as Avaline. Shauna stuck her hand out and Avaline tried not to giggle at the formal greeting as they shook hands, a strange contrast to Shauna's appearance.

Avaline wasn't sure what to say next, but before it could become awkward, Roran decided to wander over and examine the newcomer. Shauna wasn't even slightly nervous, which Avaline thought was a point in her favour. Once Roran was satisfied Shauna wasn't hiding any food from him, he was happy to lie near her legs and be petted whilst she sang his praises.

"Roran's going to get such an ego if you keep on like that," Avaline said, smiling.

He gave a huff of annoyance when Shauna stopped petting him. "Sorry, I've just never seen a real racer's rhyhorn before! Nothing ever happens here and then we get a real life celebrity moving here and the thing with the Professor, don't you think that's going to be so much fun?"

Avaline blinked. "Thing with the Professor?"

"You don't know?" Shauna said. "Calem was supposed to go over to your house to tell you." She grinned and stood up suddenly. "Oh well! We can go meet him there. Do you think Roran would let me ride him to your place? I don't mean real fast."

"Yeah, I think so," Avaline said. "...But you might want to get dressed first."

Shauna looked down at herself with a fierce blush on her face. "I guess I was too excited," she mumbled. "I'll be just a minute!"

 

Roran graciously allowed Shauna to ride on his back, and even restrained himself to a stroll. It probably helped that she'd brought some toast out of her house to share with him. Avaline tried not to stare too hard at the bush Roran had taken a bite out of, which an elderly gentleman was now scratching his head at. His eyes narrowed when he saw Roran go past - rhyhorn were not the most _subtle_ of pokemon. Uh oh. Mum really was going to be pissed.

Roran, bless him, was not even slightly concerned about Avaline's potential scolding and happily announced his return to the house with a roar that startled Shauna so badly that she fell off him. The rhyhorn was at least contrite about the graze on the toast-giver's knee.

Mum arrived in the doorway with a restrained scowl and folded arms. Next to her, holding a mug of tea, was the boy in the blue tracksuit Avaline and Roran had nearly run over. _Oh boy_ , Avaline thought, _that's a lot of chores I'm going to be doing._

"Hi, Calem, Avaline's mum!" Shauna said, completely unaffected by the glares Grace was sending towards her daughter or the fact that Avaline was trying to hide behind her. "Your rhyhorn is the best, he's so cute and he's a great racer!"

Avaline could have kissed Shauna, because there was pretty much nothing other than gratuitous rhyhorn compliments which could cure her mother in a bad mood. Mum's whole demeanour softened considerably. "Oh, that's so kind of you to say, dear," she cooed. "Rhyhorn are so misunderstood as a species!"

Barely resisting from rolling her eyes - it wasn't that Avaline didn't _agree_ , but she'd been subject to this rant by her mother too many times to count - she carefully edged her way around the animated conversation between Shauna and her mother without trying to draw attention to herself.

Calem just seemed slightly bemused by it all, standing in the doorway sipping his tea. Avaline expected him to snap at her or at least to glare, but he just offered her a small smile. It made her feel even more awkward and she coughed nervously.

"Sorry, er - about nearly running you over."

"No harm done." Calem shrugged. "Anyway, it was pretty great to see him racing. Grace was telling me he was her first racer rhyhorn so he must be at least ten years out of the races, but you wouldn't think that to look at him."

It was like they'd read her mother's mind. Avaline thought it was a good job that neither Calem nor Shauna seemed particularly offensive because she would _totally_ get an earful if she refused to be friends with them now.

"I wondered how the Professor even knew about you before you'd moved here," Calem continued. "But I guess being the daughter of a famous rhyhorn racer would explain it."

He didn't sound like he was jealous or anything, but Avaline still felt the need to offer, "Mum mentioned that your parents are famous trainers in the Kalos region."

"Oh, yeah." Calem grinned. "Mum used to run the Gym in Anistar and Dad does a TV show about pokemon training for kids."

"Wow." Avaline thought those connections put rhyhorn racing to shame.

"And Shauna's dad is a scientist, so that's how the Professor knows her," Calem said.

 _At least 'rhyhorn racer' is still cooler than 'scientist'_ , Avaline thought. She'd realised that she had no idea which Professor they were talking about, but at this point there was no way to clarify without being really embarrassed. "What was the 'thing' with the Professor, anyway? Shauna didn't say."

"Oh Avaline, it's so exciting!" Mum said, making Avaline jump. "Professor Sycamore has asked you three to help him with his research!"

"And we get to choose a rare pokemon to travel with," Shauna added.

Professor Sycamore, Avaline remembered, was an expert in pokemon evolution. He'd helped to codify the recently classified fairy type as well, by definitively proving that flabébé and its evolutions weren't grass types. No one had classified a new type since Professor Oak, and that had been years before Avaline was even born, so it was fair to say that Professor Sycamore was kind of a big deal.

"He wants to meet us?" she said, just to be sure she hadn't gotten the wrong idea.

"Yes! He's arranged to meet you outside the Saint-Louis Cafe tomorrow and 11 in the morning," her mother said.

"I can't believe that's really tomorrow!" Shauna said. Calem shook his head, but he had a fond smile on his face. "We'll be going on a big adventure together! It's going to be sooo great, I've barely been able to sleep this whole week."

 _A big adventure._ Avaline wasn't sure how she felt. She'd only just arrived in Kalos, yet she was already expected to go out on a huge journey in a strange country full of strange pokemon, accompanied by two people who were themselves virtual strangers? There hadn't been a chance for her to get used to her new home yet, or even to unpack all her things, and she hadn't seen her mother since she moved out a month before her schooling finished in Johto, and...

And... would that make much of a difference, really? Mum might have set up a home base in Johto for Avaline's sake, but that didn't mean she stopped travelling altogether; Avaline was quite used to being apart from her mother for long periods of time. And she hadn't settled in here yet, but that meant she wouldn't have much chance to be homesick. Maybe travelling around Kalos would let her fall in love with the region and she would be too busy to miss Johto and all her friends there. At least it would be a bit of excitement, because she was sure to run out of things to do in Vaniville town quite quickly.

Plus, how often do you get to help a world famous pokemon researcher?

There were butterflies in her stomach but Avaline's face felt like it would split in half with the first genuine grin she'd had in weeks. She could see that her mother was also pleased for her, eyes crinkled with her smile. Calem was already trying to turn the excited Shauna on to discussing logistics, so Avaline joined to help him.

_The start of my own pokemon journey... and a rare pokemon... and meeting a famous Professor... I think life in Kalos is going to be great, after all_

 

 


	2. Froakie, Fennekin, Chespin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I updated the ff.net version of this story on Friday before I went to work. Aaaand then completely forgot about AO3. Sorry! But in that case it should only be a few days before Chapter 3 is up, so it works out fine... right?

Avaline found it difficult to get to sleep that night due to nervous excitement. She was eventually shaken awake by her mother, saying that she had twenty minutes before she was due to meet Shauna and Calem at the Route 1 exit.

Mum must have been very pleased for her, because when Avaline got out of the shower she found that her mother had packed her bag. "I put in a change of clothes for you," Mum said. "For practicality rather than fashion - I know what you're like."

That left Avaline guilt free when she wore her favourite high-waisted dress, black and red. Paired with her pink bag and hat (they matched), even her hair didn't let her down too badly.

Mum just shook her head and sighed. "Well, you're going to be earning your own money from pokemon battles soon - don't blame me when it gets torn and you have to replace it."

"Fashions change quickly. Clothes are meant to be worn and appreciated, not hidden away." Avaline stuck her tongue out. It was an old disagreement between them. The ultra practical Grace had no idea how she'd come to have such a fashion-conscious daughter, and Avaline had no idea why her mother insisted on wearing those jumpsuits half unzipped and tied around her waist. They could actually be very flattering to your figure if the fit was right!

  


Avaline felt butterflies in her stomach as she went to meet Calem and Shauna. They seemed nice enough, but she'd only just met them. What if it was really awkward or they thought she was boring?

She needn't have worried. As soon as Shauna spotted her, she let out a small cheer and ran up to give Avaline a hug that she was almost too surprised to return. "Yay, you're here!" she said. "Wow, this'll be your first time going to Aquacorde Town via the Vaniville Pathway. It's such a great walk, you'll love it! There are only baby pokemon who live around here though so you're not allowed to catch anything."

"Pathway?" Avaline said, confused. "I thought this was Route 1?"

Shauna also looked confused.

"Route 1 is the official name, to bring it in line with other Leagues," Calem explained. "But in Kalos a lot of our old roads have historic names which are still in common use. In Johto, your routes are just known by number, right?"

Avaline nodded. "That's kinda interesting. So do any of the road names have stories behind them?"

"Oh, I know one!" Shauna said. "I'll tell you on the way. It's a spoooky story..."

The Vaniville Pathway was a pleasant walk compared to the narrow lanes Avaline's ride from the airport had taken the other night. It'd been almost impossible to see where they were going; she'd spent the whole journey gripping the edges of her seat, convinced they were going to end up driving straight into one of the untidy hedgerows. Now she understood why it seemed to be nearly unused. If Avaline had known about this cute paved road, she probably would have just walked it, too. Maybe you could hire pokemon in Aquacorde who would carry your shopping home? The grocery store in Vaniville was _tiny_ , there was no way people did all their shopping there. Plus, there were absolutely _no_ clothes stores.

"...So ever since then, the hotel has been abandoned, haunted by ghost type pokemon!" Shauna said triumphantly.

"Is that story true?" Avaline asked Calem. She had been scared of ghost types since a visit to Ecruteak was she was younger, when a couple of gastly had spent the day following her around, trying to scare her by randomly appearing out of people’s shadows. If the story was true, the Lost Hotel was _definitely_ on her list of ‘do not wants’. And Calem seemed like the type who would know.

"Well, there was a fire, and you can find a lot of ghost type pokemon there," he allowed. _Yep, I'm never going there,_ Avaline decided. "But I don't know about the rest of it."

Shauna puffed up her cheeks, scowling. "You guys are lame. _I_ think that's a great scary story."

"It's not bad." Avaline grinned cheekily. "But you should hear the stories they tell about Ecruteak's Burned Tower..."

By the time they got to Aquacorde a few hours later, Shauna was forced to admit that Avaline’s Burned Tower story was scarier than her Lost Hotel. Even Calem seemed to have come out of his shell a little.

"Did _you_ ever go inside?" he asked. “You’d probably want to take a dark type pokemon, of course, but it sounds like it might be fun to explore.”

What a weird idea of ‘fun’. Avaline shuddered. "No way. My friend Kokoro did once for a dare, but she wouldn't talk about it after."

"Creepy." Despite her words, Shauna seemed more contemplative than fightened. "I still want to explore the Lost Hotel though. Hey, is that the café?"

Avaline was able to pick out the sign after a few moments. Her nerves, which had been mostly settled by the pleasant walk, came back with a vengeance. She swallowed, mouth feeling suddenly dry. "Looks like it."

They had all stopped without really thinking about it. Even if Avaline was the one new to Kalos, Shauna and Calem probably didn’t meet world famous professors every day, either.

"I wonder what pokemon he has to offer," Calem said.

"I wonder what research we’ll be doing for him," Shauna murmured.

_Fingers crossed he's not one of Mum's creepy fans,_ Avaline thought. Some of her mother’s fan mail was really weird.

Shauna was the first one to move. She smiled broadly and said, a little too loud, "Last one there buys the coffee!"

Calem put out a hand to stop her, but she was already well ahead of them. He gave Avaline a wry smile. “Sorry, she does this a lot.” He made a shooing gesture. “You’re our new neighbour, so you shouldn’t have to pay for our drinks. Don’t worry, I’m happy to cover it.”

Compared to Shauna, Calem was much more reserved, and Avaline wasn’t quite sure what to make of him yet. Still, it was nice to see him being welcoming in his own way.

She’d been expecting to see the Professor himself - who she'd recognise from his TV appearances - but there was no sign of him in the café. Instead, a man and a woman in formalwear waved them over to their table.

"Sorry Professor Sycamore couldn't be here himself." The woman, a dark-skinned lady with _stunning_ purple dyed hair and a lovely scarf tied around her neck, offered them an apologetic smile.

"He had to meet with one of the people supporting his research at short notice," the man explained. He was also in white, with a blue bow tie, and managed not to look completely washed out despite being so pale. Was this Professor Sycamore’s uniform for his employees or something? If so, Avaline approved of his style. "I'm Dexio and this is Sina. We're Professor Sycamore's assistants."

Avaline nodded. She'd heard her mother mutter under her breath about _sponsors_ often enough to guess why the professor couldn't be here to meet them. The three of them mumbled their own greetings. Avaline was a little disappointed not to be meeting the professor in person, but it was still pretty cool to meet a famous professor's assistants, after all.

"Why don't you all sit down and order something and we can talk about the professor's request," Sina said. "It's on us, so order whatever you like!"

Dexio sighed.

"...Within reason," Sina tacked on belatedly.

The menu was pretty strange to Avaline; Shauna and Calem had a fun time explaining the menu to her and making their own recommendations. Eventually Avaline ordered a fruity tea which was similar to what she was used to at home, and a slice of carrot cake which sounded… too weird not to try.

"Let's get the lecture-y stuff out of the way first," Sina said. Avaline noticed Shauna deflate a little, although she was still listening carefully.

Avaline didn’t mind waiting for the pokemon, anyway. The prospect of being given a rare pokemon was exciting, but part of her thought guiltily about Appa. She felt like she was replacing him, even though she would have probably _had_ to get another pokemon eventually. It wasn't as though she would forget Appa just because she had a new pokemon. Still... she kept thinking of the way Appa would curl up and hide his face when he was sad.

"Have any of you heard of something called 'mega evolution'?" Sina was saying.

Avaline looked expectantly towards Calem, thinking that it must be a Kalos thing, but he just shook his head.

"Well, that's not too surprising, we don't really have much more than rumours to go on ourselves." Sina pulled a photograph out of her bag and passed it to Shauna. "At least, until this."

Avaline leaned over Shauna's shoulder and found herself lost for words.

"It's a gyarados," Shauna said. "But... it looks so strange..."

The gyarados in the photo was not the lithe, serpent-like pokemon that Avaline knew from Johto. By comparison, it seemed almost _stumpy_ , with a much stouter body and odd red lumps running down its side. Two great fins, resembling wings, rose out of its back.

Shauna passed the photo to Calem in silence. He raised his eyebrows. "Some pokemon have been known to have different forms depending on where they're from. Are you sure that's not the case here? Maybe one that's very rare, so it hasn't been seen before?"

Sina shook her head. "That would have been a good explanation, except... look at the back."

Calem obligingly turned the photo over. ‘ _A gyarados having undergone the process of mega evolution’_ was written on the back in cramped handwriting. After a moment, he flipped back to the unusual gyarados, frowning.

"So what _is_ 'mega evolution'?" Shauna said eventually.

"Technically speaking, it isn't really an _evolution,_ but a transformation," Dexio said. "According to legend, a trainer may bond with their pokemon such that, in battle, they're capable of a temporary transformation which will make them more powerful - but unlike true evolution, after some time, the pokemon returns to its original form."

"So it's kind of like ditto's transformation?" Avaline said.

Dexio nodded. "Right. Most experts have always dismissed these stories as misunderstandings of real evolution. Or that they may be about pokemon with ditto-like transformation abilities which no longer exist. However, this story repeats itself a lot throughout Kalos history, and remains quite consistent. Professor Sycamore has always been of the opinion that there may be something specific to Kalos which allows these transformations to occur. A few texts refer to ‘precious stones’, which the professor thought might be similar to the stones which allow pokemon like eevee to evolve. But this is the first time we've had more to go on than that."

"Isn't the professor working on this himself?" Shauna asked.

Dexio and Sina exchanged a look. "The professor - and us, for that matter - are caught up in other projects.” Sina sighed. _Probably demanding sponsors,_ Avaline thought sympathetically. "Mega evolution is very interesting, but not that urgent, so it would be great if you could look into it for us whilst we're busy."

“Of course we'll help!” Shauna exclaimed. Calem and Avaline settled for nodding.

Sina clapped her hands together. "Now that that's out of the way, we can get to the exciting part!"

Dexio shook his head. "You could take this a little more seriously."

But he took out a silver case which Avaline hadn’t paid much attention to before. Avaline winced as Shauna nudged her a little too sharply in her excitement.

_It's not like replacing Appa,_ she told herself firmly. _I'll need a pokemon to help keep me safe if we're doing researcher, and anyway, when I go to visit everyone in Johto, I bet they'll be great friends!_

Appa liked making new friends. He'd love to meet pokemon from a strange part of the world!

"I think Avaline should choose first," Calem said, startling her out of her thoughts.

"Yeah!" Shauna grinned at her. "It'll be like... a moving in present from us!"

"Okay, Avaline," Sina said, "Would you like Fennekin, Froakie, or Chespin?"

Shauna gasped and Calem grinned excitedly, but she had no idea what any of those pokemon were. She stared at the proffered pokeballs blankly.

Dexio coughed awkwardly. "Fennekin is a fire type, Froakie water, and Chespin grass."

Mariko had always been interested in water types. She said they were normally easy to get along with and quite sociable, since most water types lived in groups.

"The froakie?" she managed to say. It was as good a reason as any to choose a pokemon... probably.

Shauna was practically dancing in her seat with excitement. Calem sighed. "Well I know which one _you_ want, so I'll take the chespin."

"Fennekin!" Shauna cried delightedly. "My own fennekin, I can't believe it!"

"Oh, you should take these as well." Dexio removed the section of the case the pokeballs had been stored in to reveal three red rectangular devices that Avaline recognised immediately. _No way!_ "These are pokedexes. When you scan a pokemon with them, they feed information to a global database, which helps further our understanding of pokemon. Don't worry about going out of your way for it if you're not particularly interested; Professor Sycamore already has a lot of assistants collecting data with the pokedexes. They're very useful reference tools for trainers, though, so I'm sure you'll enjoy having them."

Calem and Shauna were barely paying attention, obviously eager to meet their new pokemon. Avaline could understand that - but to be so blasé about getting pokedexes?! To be so casual about handing them out, too? She was flabbergasted. Receiving a pokedex in Johto was a huge honour. And if you _did_ receive one, you were expected to work at it!

Kalos was so strange.

"Anyway, we'll see you again in Lumiose City, after you've had a chance to get to know your new pokemon a bit. Maybe you'll even have a Gym Badge by then!" Sina said.

Avaline blinked at her.

"Well, you didn't expect us to insist you spend all your time researching mega evolution, did you?"

So. Strange. "...I kind of did?"

Dexio shook his head. Sina just laughed.

  


After the two assistants had left, saying they would meet them in Lumiose City in a week's time, Shauna - almost skipping by this point - led the way to a secluded place where they could release their new pokemon without disturbing anyone. Avaline could see why Shauna had been so excited to receive a fennekin; it _was_ pretty cute.

Still, the way Avaline’s little froakie was hopping around excitedly made her feel like she'd made the right choice. She smiled at him and he practically leapt into her arms, making happy croaking noises.

"Do you know what the best way to get to know our new pokemon is?!" Shauna said dramatically.

"A battle!" Calem said.

"A race!" Avaline exclaimed at the same time.

They both turned to look at each other.

"...Both," Shauna decided. "I bet my Felix will win, though."

Avaline shared a smile with her new froakie. "Come on, Senshi," she whispered. "Let's prove her wrong!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Current team:  
> Froakie - Senshi


	3. Santalune Forest

By the time they finished their race and battles, and had healed up their pokemon, it was clear Calem was itching to go do something. Maybe he just needed a break from Shauna’s excitement?

"Why don't we meet up again in Santalune City?" he suggested. "That's not too far away, and we can probably stay overnight at the Pokemon Centre."

"Cool!" Shauna said. She hadn't seemed upset when Felix the fennekin lost both of his battles. Then again, he _did_ win the race. "I kinda want to see if there are any cute pokemon worth catching around here, so I don't mind."

Calem snapped his fingers, gaining the attention of the chespin he was holding in his other arm. It tried to snap its fingers too as Calem spoke. "That reminds me! Here, my parents sent me off with a bunch of pokeballs to share with you."

He gave them ten each, and by the looks of things, had at least twice that left in his bag. Avaline's eyebrows rose. "They sent you pretty prepared, huh? Mum barely remembered to get me toothpaste."

Calem shrugged. Then his mouth twitched with suppressed laughter as the chespin copied that, too. "I mean, it _is_ their area of expertise, so you’d hope so. Anyway, just give me a call if you need any help."

Avaline opened her mouth to thank him, but Calem was already off. His chespin waved goodbye at them from over his shoulder.

"Wait," she said instead, "was Calem wearing roller skates this whole time?"

Shauna had to explain the attachable skates to her. What the heck?! Where were these things when Avaline needed them, like the time she got grounded for a month when she wore out a pair of her mother’s boots trekking around Goldenrod?

With a sigh, she added them to her "to buy" list. She'd heard the fashion stores in Kalos were to die for, but at this rate she'd never have any money to spend on clothes. She had to get pokemon food and stuff too, of course! Even Avaline wasn't quite fashion-obsessed enough to prioritise a new dress over essentials, although it was tempting sometimes.

Still, the skates would be really cool. She could look into buying those.

When they got to Route 2 - or Avance Trail; she really had to get a local map because nobody gave directions using the official League numbers - Shauna raced off to look for cute pokemon. Even though the assistants had said they didn't have to collect data for the pokedex, Avaline was hoping to add a few more pokemon to her collection. Technically, she didn’t have to _catch_ a pokemon to add them to the pokedex... but in practise, it was really hard to get a wild pokemon to sit still long enough for the pokedex to do a complete scan.

Avaline looked at the shiny new pokeballs in her bag and let out a sigh. She'd heard there were a bunch of different pokemon in Kalos as well. How long would these last?

  


Catching pokemon turned out to be kind of addictive. Avaline had already spent five of her pokeballs (one of them had broken up and was now useless) catching a bunnelby, a zigzagoon, caterpie, and a fletchling. Back in Johto, she'd listened obsessively to Professor Oak's radio show and was glad of it now. You actually could tell which pokemon were interested in going off with a trainer if you paid close attention! Well, okay, the pidgey that took off at speed when it saw her was a pretty blatant signal, but she may not have noticed that caterpie making a "show" of its string shot if she wasn't looking for it.

Actually, she thought, it would be nice to catch a pidgey; in Johto, a lot of people used them to carry messages and Mum used to get a lot of them bringing her fanmail. Since her mother was so often busy or away, it was Avaline who had greeted the pidgey, stroking their feathers and giving them treats. It would be nice to have a pokemon that was familiar - even though she was quickly falling in love with her new froakie. Senshi was pretty tough considering he was so little, and hadn't complained once so far about battling so many pokemon.

It was Senshi who patted her leg whilst she was standing on her tiptoes, still looking for interested pidgey, and pointed to the sky. Avaline groaned and checked the time on her holo caster. It was mid-afternoon! Where had all the time gone? She would have to get moving quickly if she wanted to get to Santalune City before it got dark.

...What time _did_ it get dark here?

Anyway, it was definitely time to call it quits. Avaline sighed. Maybe she could catch a pidgey another time. "Thanks for reminding me, Senshi," she said. "Let's hop back into your pokeball. I'll run to the Centre before we go into the forest."

Senshi's chest puffed out as he made a tiny _ribbit_ sound. He hopped backwards a little.

"You can, uh, come out and explore the forest when I get there? I just don't want to leave Shauna and Calem waiting for me too long in Santalune City. I really did mean _run._ "

He seemed to accept this and went back into his pokeball. Avaline breathed a sigh of relief. There were all sorts of books and tv shows (and Professor Oak's radio show) about the way pokemon used body language and sounds to communicate - but she’d only looked into pokemon from Johto. She seemed to be muddling through okay with Senshi.

She took off in the direction of Aquacorde. _Maybe there will be some books I can borrow from the Centre in Santalune City._ Although, come to think of it, the thing in Johto where trainers could borrow books between Centres was a just a flagship scheme, right? They probably wouldn't do that here.

For some reason, that made her feel homesick again. She hadn’t noticed how many expectations she’d built up about her own pokemon journey, which were constantly being subverted. The little bits of news she'd kept up with about training in Johto seemed sort of pointless now.

 _I’m supposed to be thinking positively._ Even if they didn't have that specific scheme, the Centre must have some kind of resource. Maybe one of the nurses could recommend something, ooh, or a talk show she could download to her holo caster and listen to on the road! That would be ideal.

 

Avaline already had her hand on Senshi's pokeball as she stepped into Santalune Forest. Come to think of it, this probably wasn't the absolute best place for a water type pokemon - there were bound to be grass types and a few poisonous bugs. Still, she _had_ promised he could have a walk about. Senshi seemed delighted to be out of his pokeball again, starting to hop and look at his surroundings immediately, only belatedly croaking at her in greeting.

Maybe her new fletchling would come in handy here. Avaline hadn't given her a nickname yet, and--

"Hi, Avaline! And you too, Senshi." It was Shauna. Felix was sitting on top of her head and let out an enormous yawn when he saw Avaline, before jumping off to look at a nearby patch of grass with Senshi. "Wow, you took a long time!"

Was Felix being passive-aggressive with her? For that matter, was _Shauna_ being passive aggressive? It was so hard to judge tone. "You… you weren't waiting for me, were you?” She winced, feeling even more ridiculous for losing track of time so badly. “I've been hours! I’m sorry."

To her astonishment, Shauna's smile was as bright as ever. "I thought it would be more fun to go through the forest together, and it really wasn't too bad, anyway - I played hide and seek with Felix and we caught a scatterbug! I heard vivillion has over twenty different patterns on its wings, I'm so excited to see what it'll be like when it evolves."

"I didn't know that." That sounded kind of cool. Avaline wished she'd caught one now. There would be more scatterbug in the forest, right? Although Shauna might not be willing to let Avaline wander around searching for a specific pokemon after she’d already waited for so long..."I'm really so sorry," she said again.

She _thought_ Shauna wasn't all that bothered, but she wasn't used to speaking Kalosian and a lot of the nuance seemed to fly over her head.

But Shauna waved her off. "Don't worry about it, it's fine." Felix sneezed and Shauna paused to glare at him. Well, at least Avaline had been right about _him_ being passive aggressive. "I was going to call you, but then I realised..."

Avaline facepalmed. She must have checked her holo caster five or six times today without thinking about it. Calem had even said to call him and it hadn’t occurred to her _then_. "...We completely forgot to exchange numbers, didn't we."

Shauna started to giggle. "And guess what," she wheezed. "Calem's parents got him a new holocaster to celebrate starting his journey, so... so... I don't even have _his_ number!"

It probably shouldn't have been very funny that they were all slightly incompetent, but for some reason they both collapsed in gales of laughter.

"Okay, okay," Avaline said, when she was able to breathe again. "We should get going. I don't know Santalune Forest but I don't think it's going to be as much fun wandering around in the dark."

"It won't get dark for hours yet, it's still summer." Shauna was still wiping away tears of laughter. "But yeah, we should go meet up with Calem."

Senshi looked at Avaline with narrowed eyes.

"So I didn't have to rush quite so much," she mumbled. "How was I supposed to know?"

"Let's get each other's numbers before we forget!" Shauna said. "In case we get separated."

  


They made their way through the forest slowly. Now that she knew they still had hours of daylight, Avaline didn’t feel quite as hurried. Senshi and Felix were having fun exploring in the woods and playing hide and seek in the tall grass. (Felix always won. Avaline wondered if Senshi had any concept of staying downwind.) There was a moment of panic when Senshi startled a weedle and Avaline had to use three of her remaining pokeballs to avoid him getting poisoned. The weedle turned out to be very friendly once it had calmed down, though, and was very helpful in deterring other bug types in the woods. Avaline started calling her Queenie because she carried herself so regally on her shoulder.

To her surprise, Shauna had a great eye for noticing things. She found at least three items that had either been lost by other trainers or possibly stolen by curious pokemon. She even found a perfectly good antidote that was nothing more than a bit dirty.

"I've heard you can find pikachu in Santalune Forest!" Shauna said dreamily. "I'd love one, wouldn't you?"

Avaline brightened. Pikachu was another familiar pokemon. They were more common in Kanto than Johto, but a lot of people visited Kanto specifically to catch one, or bought one from a pokemon breeder. They were absurdly popular, even considering how cute they were.

"They were nearly as expensive as eevees in Johto," Avaline said. "They've kind of become Kanto's unofficial mascot. If you want, I'll help you catch one if we see one."

"Yay!" Shauna cheered. "But, why are eevees expensive? I know pikachu is really rare but couldn't you just go catch your own eevee?"

Avaline stared at her for a moment, wondering if she just wasn't that well read on pokemon habitats. Eevee did appear on TV a lot, which confused some people. "Eevees... are really rare... like, 'more sightings of Suicune in the wild in the last ten years than eevees' rare."

"Really? Because you see a lot here." Shauna had gotten out her pokedex out and was pressing buttons wildly. "Look! You can catch one near Geosenge Town. They're fairly common."

"Wait, are you serious?" Without waiting for an answer, Avaline grabbed the pokedex. Sure enough, the details of eevee's habitat said it was quite commonly found near Geosenge Town 'or easily purchased from a reputable breeder, who value it for its rarity outside Kalos and adaptable nature'.

...You could actually catch your own eevee? Without dedicating your whole life to it? _For real?!_

Avaline started when Shauna gently took the pokedex back off her. "Wow. I had no idea they were so rare... you look like three birthdays have come at once."

"You can actually catch your own eevee..." Avaline muttered. Senshi seemed slightly concerned, nudging Avaline’s ankle with his nose. She looked down at him. “An _eevee,_ Senshi.” Everyone in Johto would be so jealous... Mariko would just about die of envy if she found out… Kokoro might actually cry…

Senshi blinked at her.

...Whatever, he couldn’t know how amazing this was. She turned back to Shauna. “When can we go to Geosenge Town?!”

Shauna leaned back slightly, and only then did Avaline realise she was _slightly_ encroaching on her personal space. She blushed and retreated.

"...Maybe we can make it our next stop after talking to the Professor?” Shauna made a thoughtful noise. “We have to go through Lumiose City to get pretty much anywhere from this end of Kalos, so we should have some fun there first, though. It's a huge place! You could spend practically your whole life there without ever leaving, there's so much to do!"

Coming from Goldenrod City, Avaline doubted it would have quite as much of an effect on her, but she was happy to let Shauna talk about it. Lumiose still sounded like a fun place, and there were bound to be new things to try. It would be nice to get back to something similar to the bustle and bright lights of Goldenrod.

Plus, then they could head to Geosenge Town! For an _eevee!_

  


Despite Shauna's best efforts, they didn't spot any pikachu on the way through the forest. Avaline was still excited by the idea of being able to have an eevee and wasn't really much help. Shauna did catch one of the pan-monkeys, a panpour. Avaline didn't say anything, because she didn't want to be rude, but she found it kind of creepy. It seemed to prefer communicating by mime and didn't make much noise. Also, she had no idea how it could possibly see, wandering around with closed eyes. Senshi also stayed away, whilst Queenie gave the panpour a dignified bow.

After some time Avaline found the forest made her feel itchy, like she was always being watched, and she was beginning to feel a bit irritable after being challenged by one particularly obnoxious trainer who trash talked Senshi. Avaline let him go on for a minute and then silently called out her fletchling with a raised eyebrow. The fletchling seemed interested in taking part in a trainer battle, although it wasn’t that challenging for her as a flying type. Avaline called her Marie - Shauna's suggestion. Apparently, it was a traditional Kalosian name.

Queenie acquitted herself well too, although she seemed disappointed not to do as well as Marie no matter how much Avaline explained type advantages. She supposed Queenie just had high expectations for herself. Senshi was able to get her to perk up after a while, to the point where Queenie crawled down from Avaline’s shoulder to walk beside him instead. Senshi’s quiet croaks and Queenie’s chittering was a soothing background noise to the forest sounds, and helped calm Avaline’s nerves a little. She wasn’t sure what they were saying to each other, but it was nice to see them getting along.

Even Shauna, with her seemingly limitless enthusiasm, was beginning to look a bit tired. Avaline was relieved when she spotted a sign pointing towards the exit. She was about to say as much when Shauna suddenly grabbed her arm and pointed. "Look!"

At first, Avaline couldn't see anything. Then she spotted a flash of yellow in the dense trees just off the main path. "Hm, looks pretty hidden. I don't know if that one wants to be caught..."

"We can at least go take a peek!" Shauna said, grinning.

They moved a little closer, trying not to make too much noise--

"So, this is where you've gotten to."

They both whirled around and shushed Calem loudly. "There's a pikachu!" Shauna whispered.

"I can see that," Calem said, deadpan.

Avaline looked over her shoulder. The pikachu must have come to investigate the noise they were making, because it was now sat in plain sight, nose twitching. Shauna let out a small squeak of delight.

"Um, okay... Felix! We have to try to make friends with this pikachu!" Shauna said. "Go!"

Whilst not on the grand scale of the pokemon battles Avaline had seen on television, it was actually pretty interesting to watch them fight, since both pokemon were small and relied on being quick. Because it was a forested area and the leaves were pretty dry, it was too risky to use Felix's fire attacks, and he was confined to physical attacks. He shuddered at the pikachu's shocks but didn't seem to show any signs of paralysis. Shauna got overexcited and threw a pokeball too early, which broke apart almost immediately.

Felix suddenly put on a burst of speed and slammed into the pikachu. Shauna cheered. "Great tackle, Felix! Okay, this is it!"

She took out her last pokeball and threw it. Avaline winced. She'd sort of gotten a feel for when pokemon were willing to be caught; the pikachu had just recovered from the hit, and she sensed that it wasn't ready to give up the fight yet.

But it was too late to say something, and sure enough, the pikachu broke out of the pokeball.

Shauna deflated. "That was my last one..."

There was a pause, and Calem sighed. He reached into his bag. "Go on then, since I have spares."

Shauna wrapped him in a brief, crushing hug, before turning back to the fight. "Okay Felix! We're not down for the count yet!"

The fight only lasted a little longer. Felix's muscles started to seize up, and Shauna swapped him out for her scatterbug. Since he was at full health, the fight became a lot more one-sided, even though Avaline could see the pikachu was more experienced compared to the young scatterbug.

The pikachu started to look woozy, but it also wasn't making any moves to run away. Avaline nudged Shauna and nodded.

Shauna took a deep breath. "Last chance! Pokeball, go!"

The pikachu was swallowed up by the pokeball in a flash of light and they all watched as it shook. Shauna was visibly tense and had all of her fingers crossed. Eventually, the pokemon went still and there was a small click to confirm the capture.

"Yes! Yes yes!" Shauna was jumping up and down with excitement. "I got a pikachu!" Then she ran around hugging everyone saying 'thank you' over and over again, including Senshi, who had not even been paying much attention and was nearly asleep.

Avaline decided not to say that she would've happily given Shauna some of her pokeballs to try again with, too. It would've ruined the drama of the moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Current team:  
> Froakie (M) - Senshi  
> Bunnelby  
> Fletchling (F) - Marie  
> Zigzagoon  
> Caterpie  
> Weedle (F) - Queenie


	4. The Bug Badge

After the excitement of catching her new pikachu, Shauna was practically asleep on her feet by the time they got to the Pokemon Centre. She barely got her team healed up before her head hit the pillow and she was snoozing away.

Avaline was tired too, but couldn't get to sleep as easily; the time difference was still affecting her somewhat. Despite that, she felt that she was starting to settle in, even though she'd not really had any time to properly "settle" at all. Nobody had sneered at her accent and she felt like Shauna and Calem were going to be great friends. Shauna was especially easy to get along with and always upbeat and positive. Calem seemed more reserved, but he was very knowledgeable and willing to share.

It was still fairly light outside, even though dusk was obviously approaching. Avaline sighed. She was never going to get to sleep at this rate. She might as well get started on researching mega evolution, even though she probably wouldn’t find more than Professor Sycamore's assistants had shared with them. Still, it would give her something to do, and she might actually look knowledgeable when they eventually met the world-famous professor. Maybe.

Mega evolution must have been a relatively niche topic itself because her search criteria didn't turn up that many results to begin with. Like Dexio and Sina had said, most of what they “knew” was rumours and legends. There was one account from maybe a hundred years ago, which someone had written down in a diary. It seemed quite detailed, covering three pages in stilted, old-fashioned dialogue with cramped handwriting. For some reason, the website it was on seemed to have had a lot of posts removed, because none of the links seemed to work, and the only context was: ‘from Frederic DuBois’s journal, vol. 3’. Still, Avaline supposed it would give her something to do if she printed them off and tried her hand at translating them herself. She probably needed to work on reading Kalosian anyway. 

When she had the printouts in her hands, she sighed, wondering what to do next. Calem’s first thought had been that the gyarados was a previously unknown form. Maybe there would be people who had similar thoughts, who had seen a mega evolved pokemon without realising? She tried searching for 'pokemon transformation' and 'pokemon new forms'. A lot of it was just junk, or pokemon their trainers had dressed up, or photo edited stuff... but there was one photo of a lucario, buried way back in the search results, that caught her eye. The photo looked like it had been taken on a bus or car; the shot was a bit blurred and the lucario was some distance away from the camera. 

Avaline tried looking on the website it was on for more information, but it was just somebody's holiday snaps on a blog that hadn't been updated in five years. All it said was 'Look at this awesome lucario I saw in Kalos!' She sighed. Detective work was hard. Still, she printed off that picture too in the best quality she could manage, and wrote the address of the blog on the back so she would be able to find it again.

Avaline’s eyelids were starting to grow heavy. It was later than she'd meant to stay up and it seemed like she hadn't made much progress at all. Yawning and feeling disappointed, she went up to bed.

  
  


The next morning Avaline was woken by the sound of a loud bang. She sat upright in bed, but there was only Shauna looking sheepish. "Sorry! I knocked the clock off and it broke. Doyou think the nurses will be mad?"

Avaline's laughter was swallowed up by her yawn. "Thing looks like it came out of the dark ages," she said. "They were probably due a new one."

She found it impossible to get back to sleep, though, and after twenty minutes she gave up and started for the communal showers. They were pretty gross. Maybe she should get a pair of shower shoes? Ugh, little things kept popping into her head. And she'd wanted to go Santalune's fashion boutique today!

The day got worse. The lovely dress she'd worn yesterday was definitely in need of a wash, so she put it to one side with a sigh and braced herself to face her mother's fashion choices. She found a pair of her old skinny jeans, still in good shape, which she thought was a good compromise on her mother's part.

Then she pulled out the shirt.

"I don't know  _ what _ she was thinking!" she ranted to Calem and Shauna over breakfast. "I mean honestly, I've got plenty of plain black shirts and that would've been  _ fine,  _ but no, she has to put the green one in there. How does she expect me to wear that with this hat? And the bag! She could see that  _ whilst she was putting the shirt in. _ "

They were staring at her a little wide eyed.

Avaline bit into a piece of toast mutinously. She knew that not everyone cared about fashion as much as she did, but it was important to feel good about yourself. Clashing colours like this surely couldn't make  _ anyone _ feel good about themselves.

"I've got two of this t-shirt, so I just packed both," Shauna said.

"I wish I'd thought of that," Avaline said. "I've got another dress like that in reverse colours at home."

"You could just get a plain black t-shirt," Calem offered tentatively. "Black goes with pretty much anything. Right?"

She was feeling a bit better now they weren't looking at her so strange. "Yeah. I can always keep this one as a bed shirt, I guess."

“Maybe you should get a jacket too?” he said. “Or at least an umbrella, just in case. Even Shauna remembered to bring one of those.”

Avaline couldn’t help giggling at Shauna’s indignant ‘hey!’, although she wondered if Calem wasn’t being over-cautious. "Isn't it summer?"

"It still rains in summer," Calem said. Avaline remembered, belatedly, her mother’s love of thunderstorms, and felt silly for thinking a Kalosian summer would be just like the ones in Johto. "We've been having unusually hot weather, but still. Anyway, there are some places in Kalos that stay cold all year round."

"Dendemille Town in the mountains is nearly always covered by snow!" Shauna added. "My daddy grew up there. We visit Auntie Alice once a year and  _ brr,  _ it’s freezing! They have some really awesome pokemon up there in Frost Cavern, though, so you'd probably want to go."

Johto was pretty temperate, and didn't have very changeable weather, except the odd (but predictable) storm. Avaline sighed. The climate here seemed to be doing a number on her hair, too. "Okay, I'll look into it. It might have to wait until after I win at the Gym, though, I don't have that much cash."

“Have you thought of what you’re going to do if you don’t beat the Gym?” Avaline blinked at him. He held up his hands placatingly. “It can be harder than you expect, and we have to meet up with the professor later in the week, so we can’t just stay until everyone beats Viola.”

It was a sensible thought. Avaline still felt a little stung by the implication that she might not be able to beat the Gym in a  _ week.  _ “It’s only the first Gym, it can’t be that hard?” It came out more uncertain than she had meant. Maybe she really was being overconfident? Calem must know a lot more about training than she did… Well, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to have to try again. “So, I assume you’re going to have a go at the Gym, too?”

Calem nodded. "But I want train up my pidgey first. Since she'll be the main pokemon I use to take on the gym, she really has to be good."

Avaline tried not to pout. Sure,  _ Calem  _ could get a pidgey. The ones in Johto used to love her! "I have quite a lot of pokemon, so I think I'll be okay. I might take my zigzagoon out to see how it does."

He blinked. "How many pokemon did you catch in the end?"

"Six. I’m planning to pass some of them on the nurses, though.” She was already quite attached to Queenie and had read in the pokedex that zigzagoon were excellent at finding lost or hidden items, but she didn't really feel able to handle more than four pokemon and the moment, having just started out. Even four was probably pushing it.

"Pass them on?" Shauna asked.

"Yes, if you don't want to keep a pokemon, the nurses in the pokemon centre can forward it to someone to help with research, or to a charity, or..." A horrible thought suddenly occurred to Avaline. She turned to Calem. "They do do those sorts of things in Kalos, right?"

"Don’t worry, they do,” he said reassuringly, as Shauna said ‘oh yeah!’. “Anyway, I’m going to head out to the forest for the day. I might be back a bit late. Good luck with the Gym if I don’t see you, Avaline!”

Avaline smiled and waved goodbye. Maybe Calem  _ did  _ think she was being overconfident, but he seemed sincere enough about wishing her the best, anyway. “You too!”

Still, Gym battle or no, there were more important things for Avaline to take care of first.

"Shauna, did you have any plans? Want to come shopping with me?"

"I'd love to!" Shauna said brightly.

  
  


Avaline felt better after changing shirts. There had even been a special offer on, so she was able to buy one short-sleeved and one long-sleeved shirt, which would mean she didn't have to do laundry quite so often. She also picked up an umbrella in case it did rain. It was fairly cheap, so she would probably have to replace it at some point, but it folded up small enough to keep in her bag. Some of the hats were gorgeous and there was a black-and-white cap which would’ve made her green t-shirt nearly wearable. Sadly, Avaline and her pokemon still needed to eat. She would have stayed longer, just trying on hats for fun, but Shauna got bored of shopping and asked if they could do something else.

Shauna wasn't interested in challenging the gym, but she did want to spend some more time with her pikachu and scatterbug. They decided to go out onto the short route between the forest and the city, where there would probably be some trainers for Avaline to fight, but Shauna could play with her pokemon in the sunshine. Avaline thought it might be a good opportunity to get to know her new zigzagoon. She'd read on the pokedex that the species was generally quite active, but she must have gotten a strange one because he seemed to just want to snooze. 

The zigzagoon  _ did  _ turn out to be good in a fight… when he could be bothered. Avaline won most of her trainer battles with some help from Queenie and Senshi, but couldn't bring herself to have a proper pokemon fight with the tiny preschoolers, so she suggested a pokemon race instead. They found it hilarious when Sunny, the newly named zigzagoon, wouldn't even move from the starting line.  _ Apparently a race isn't worth the effort,  _ Avaline thought ruefully. It was a little exasperating, but it reminded her of the way Appa used to behave when it was raining and he didn’t want to go outside. She hid her smiles as best she could when telling Sunny off, although, judging by his yawn, Avaline didn’t think it had sunk in.

There was one trainer who seemed to only have six freshly-caught caterpie. It turned out to be more of a spectacle than Avaline expected. Sunny begged out halfway through the battle to nap, so Queenie ended up defeating the last three caterpie by herself and afterwards, to Avaline’s surprise, Queenie evolved into a kakuna. Their opponent wasn’t even mad, congratulating Avaline as he handed over the prize money.

“No way! You got to evolve a pokemon first!” Shauna said, clapping her hands together excitedly. “Bug types are supposed to evolve really fast, but it’s still cool…”

Avaline decided that was probably going to be the highlight of the day. Plus, Sunny didn’t seem to want to move anymore. 

She and Shauna found a quiet little cafe where trainers could eat with their pokemon. It was probably a clever ploy to sell more food, because Senshi, Marie and Sunny all demanded their tidbits and Avaline had to order another sandwich. She was lucky that Queenie didn't need to eat anything in her kakuna stage or she'd go broke very quickly. Still, she managed to get Sunny hyped for the Gym battle by promising to get him some cake if they won.

That was as good a preparation as any, Avaline thought. Tomorrow, she’d try the Gym. 

  
  


Avaline wasn't sure what she was expecting when she entered the Gym, but it wasn't a photographer's studio.

She wondered for a moment if she was in the wrong building. But no, the outside had been grandly built, with the official symbol of the Kalos League plastered over the doors. She  _ must _ be in the right place... still, she'd never heard of a Gym pulling double duty as a studio before. If you were a Gym Leader, surely you could afford to rent a proper space for a studio?

The assistant at the door waved her over cheerfully. "I'm guessing you're here to challenge Viola to a Gym battle?" he said casually. "It's just downstairs, the Gym entrance is over there. Viola is a bug type specialist so be on your guard! Best of luck, trainer."

Avaline smiled and nodded her thanks, although she'd already known this was a bug type gym. She walked over to where the man had indicated, expecting to see a set of stairs, but instead found herself looking at a fireman's pole.

She looked back at the assistant, wondering if she'd somehow misinterpreted or gotten lost. But no, he just gave her a reassuring smile and two thumbs up. Avaline looked back at the pole dubiously.

Kalos was so weird.

Thankfully, the little Gym puzzle was something she was more familiar with from Johto. Viola had constructed a bunch of walkways, suspended over a safety net. There were ropes to hold on to as you crossed from platform to platform, but Avaline still had to be careful about her balance. It didn't help that there were also a few Gym Trainers waiting on some of the wooden platforms to jump out and distract you with a battle.

Still, she made it through and used some potions to heal up Marie and Senshi before the main battle with Viola, who was waiting on a much larger platform overlooking the whole room. Avaline had been careful to save Sunny for the main battle, partially because it would be good to have at least one pokemon completely fresh, and partially because she wasn't sure if even the lure of chocolate cake could get him to put  _ that _ much effort in.

Avaline tried to look more confident than she felt as she walked up to Leader Viola's platform. Maybe she was rushing into things too fast? Being overconfident, like Calem implied? She only really had one more pokemon than he did, and she hadn't been raised by two famous trainers - by a former Gym Leader, in fact! Now wasn't really the best time to be doubting herself, but she struggled to push the thoughts out of her head.

She was standing right in front of the steps to the platform. Viola was looking at her directly - expectantly, it seemed to Avaline. She took a deep breath and started up the steps.

There was a click and a bright flash.

Avaline tried to rapidly blink the afterimages away as Viola laughed and lowered her camera. "Sorry, sorry! But I just love to see the expression on trainer's face when they step up onto that platform. It's your first Gym battle! The nerves, the excitement! Are you good enough? Are your pokemon good enough? Do you shy away from the challenge, or do you face it head on? You can tell a lot about a trainer from their expression at that moment."

Well, Leader Viola was obviously very passionate about her photography, in a way that was kind of awe inspiring. Except that pretty much the last thing that Avaline wanted to hear at this point was grand speeches about a trainer's future. Half the reason she was even challenging the Gym was to get the cash for a pair of shoe skates. What did  _ that _ say about her as a trainer?

But then Viola surprised her. She put the camera away very carefully, and pulled out her first pokeball with a huge grin on her face.

"This is going to be  _ great _ ," she said. "I can tell."

Avaline was taken aback, and just nodded as firmly as she could manage. She couldn't get distracted now. She had to focus on the battle. She took another deep breath to calm herself. 

Her hands were still shaking, though. 

Avaline busied herself releasing Queenie from her pokeball. Then she remembered that this  _ was  _ an official Gym battle, and this could be misconstrued. “Um, she isn’t going to take part, but is it okay if she watches…?”

“Of course! That’s a lovely idea!” Viola nodded, waving to Queenie. “Bug pokemon in their cocoon stages need lots of stimulation.”

Even though Queenie couldn’t say anything, Avaline felt better to have her there. It reminded her of Queenie perched on her shoulder in Santalune Forest, showing her the way. Like a good luck charm.

Avaline took another deep breath. Hopefully she wouldn’t need Queenie’s luck. 

_ Who shall I lead with? _ It was important to make a good all-round choice, because whilst she had some idea of what pokemon Viola would use purely based off the fact that she was only the first Gym Leader and specialised in bug types, that still covered quite a lot of potential pokemon  _ and _ strategy.

After a moment, she selected Sunny's pokeball. Senshi was her strongest pokemon, so whilst she could lead with him and hope to overpower Viola really quickly, if Viola then produced something unexpected she wouldn't have Senshi to fall back on. Also, Avaline was pretty sure she was wise to that strategy given that she battled so many new trainers and, well... it wasn't the most sophisticated battle plan in the world.

"Ready?" Viola said. Avaline nodded, and they released their pokemon together.

Viola had chosen a surskit, which Avaline knew was a bug/water type. Senshi wouldn't have been a great choice then, as he likely wouldn't have been able to do much damage, and the whole "overpower quickly" idea would have fallen apart before it even began.

_ Did she do that on purpose, as a test?  _ ...This platform was raised slightly higher than the others, after all. Viola would have been able to see her battle the Gym Trainers. Well, they did say that a Gym battle was meant to be a test of your worthiness as a trainer as well as your mere battle skills.

Maybe a hint of her thoughts showed on her face or maybe she was just taking too long, because Viola smiled at her encouragingly.

Avaline didn't know much about surskit apart from its typing, but it looked fast and agile. Her best bet was to make powerful attacks, but without overtiring Sunny. A difficult thing, considering that it  _ was _ Sunny.

"Keep your guard up," she eventually said to Sunny. His fur bristled as though to say, 'Yeah, I knew that already.'

"Not going to make the first move?" Viola said. "If you insist. Use bubble!"

The surskit obediently let off a stream of bubbles, which made Sunny flinch and back away. Pokemon attacks at this level always hurt more than they looked like they should. Avaline winced in sympathy. "Get out of the way, Sunny!"

He made a mad dash for open ground. The unusual zig-zagging movement of his species actually came in handy, because when Viola's surskit tried to turn to follow him, still releasing bubbles, it made it difficult to aim. But Avaline saw that that wasn't going to work for them forever. The surskit obviously liked to attack foes from a distance and wear them down, and was probably very well trained, to be able to keep up that bubble attack for some time. It would have to let up at some point, but that might only be a narrow window to attack.

So the best method was to get up close, fast, even if that meant taking more attacks.

"Sunny, tackle it!"

Sunny barked at her, and for a heart-stopping moment Avaline worried he would ignore her - but no, after his display of 'I'm not sure about this', he put his head down and charged in the surskit's direction.

Of course, he would be running headfirst into the stream of bubbles, but it was imperative that he didn't let it slow him down. "You can do it! Keep going!"

"Move!" Viola spat quickly, but the surskit didn't move quickly enough, and Sunny's keen eyes noticed the movement and followed it. It wasn't as big a blow as Avaline had hoped for but it did send the surskit tumbling. It curled its legs up tightly around it and let itself half-roll, half-bounce away.

"We need to recover, fast!" Viola said, at the same time that Avaline was telling Sunny to make a follow up attack.

The surskit was so light that it actually went quite a distance and didn't even stop until Sunny was nearly upon it. It let out a high pitched squeal as Sunny didn't so much tackle it as  _ leap  _ on it.

Viola facepalmed. "Okay, that's enough. You gave it your best shot."

Sunny helped the little surskit stand up before it was recalled into its pokeball.

After a moment's thought, Avaline asked Sunny to come back, too; they'd ended the battle quickly but also in the way that would cause the most damage. She thought he would be able to take on Viola's next pokemon when it was weak, but only if it was absolutely necessary.

Sunny rubbed up against her leg before he let himself go back into his pokeball. Avaline thought it was a sort of apology for doubting her tactics, but maybe that was wishful thinking. She felt like she was glowing inside.

Viola picked up her second - and last - pokeball. Avaline's choices were Marie or Senshi. Perhaps if the surskit was a more 'offensive' type, Viola's last pokemon would be more of a 'defensive' type? It wasn't much to go on, but she decided to choose Marie. The fletchling's type advantage would hopefully be able to overcome Viola's defences, and shouldn't be a bad pick even if she had judged wrong.

As it was, Avaline thought she'd made a lucky choice when she saw Viola's vivillon, after a moment of being dazzled by it beautiful purple wings. She'd completely forgotten in the heat of the moment that many evolved bug types could fly. It would have been really tough for Senshi to face a flying pokemon, and even tougher for Sunny after his battle with the surskit. 

Marie was the best choice she could have made, but just from looking at the vivillon, Avaline could tell that it was a much better flier than her fletchling. Marie probably couldn't stand up to very many powerful attacks, either. The best bet then was probably to be aggressive, do as much damage as possible and hope Senshi could fight it at a less significant disadvantage. 

Avaline tried not to feel bad at the thought of damaging those beautiful wings; pokemon were hardy creatures and it wouldn't be permanent.

Viola might have been expecting her to sit back again, because she had opened her mouth to say something and looked astonished when Avaline abruptly called out, "Marie, fly up and peck it!"

Marie must have sensed the urgency in her voice because she took off at top speed. She was a bit overeager and didn't actually manage to  _ peck _ the vivillon, instead flying straight into it. The vivillon fluttered away woozily, though, so Avaline considered it a win. "Try again!"

"Poison powder!" Viola called out to her vivillon 

The vivillon was still recovering and didn't seem to react straight away, but when Marie came at it with her beak Avaline saw that the vivillon's wings had taken on a slightly different texture and, sure enough, the poisonous spores caught on Marie's wings and body as she pecked at it. After taking a few pecks at Viola's pokemon Marie seemed to also realised what had happened, and started to look panicked.

"It's okay, ignore it for now! Keep attacking the vivillon!" Avaline called. She felt her gut twist to say it, but for the moment it would barely affect Marie, and this was their best chance of winning.

"Follow it up, Diva!" Viola called. Ah, so that must be the vivillon’s nickname. 

Diva had taken advantage of Marie's distraction to flutter away and it looked like it was preparing another kind of attack. Marie flew after it again.

Avaline wasn't sure exactly what happened; it wasn't an attack she had seen before. All she knew was that the vivillon tackled Marie with a sudden burst of speed and hit her with some kind of bug type attack that made Marie do a full body shudder. She dropped two feet before she regained control of herself, but it was obvious that the effort was costing her. Every muscle seemed to be trembling, and with the poisoning too...  _ She won't be able to last much longer! _

"You've done really great, Marie," Avaline said, trying to sound as firm and encouraging as possible even though she felt sick with nerves and adrenaline. "Just one more attack. Let's give Senshi the best chance we can! Go for its wings!” 

The fletchling was already on the move, and she was just about able to angle herself slightly so that she tore part of Diva’s wing near where it joined her body.

Avaline immediately ordered Marie to return after the attack. She very nearly dropped out of the sky and her landing was very uncoordinated. Avaline gathered Marie up in her arms. "You did  _ so  _ well," she whispered, hoping it would make her feel better. "Really, you should be very proud of yourself."

Marie gave a weak chirp and nuzzled her finger before returning to her pokeball. Avaline paused for a moment before she released Senshi. The vivillon was still in the air, but each flap of its wings seemed to be exhausting it.

_ We really might win this, _ Avaline thought suddenly. She forced herself to put it aside. The vivillon's combo of poison powder and... whatever the other attack had been... could weaken Senshi as quickly as Marie if she wasn't careful. The image of little Marie unable to even land properly made her chest feel tight. She'd be okay when they got back to the pokemon centre.

_ Luckily,  _ she thought, as Senshi emerged from his pokeball, twitching with excitement,  _ Senshi doesn't need to make physical contact to attack it.  _

"Senshi, it will try to weaken you with special moves, so do your best to avoid them and you'll win this for sure!" Avaline said, trying to project confidence.

Senshi bobbed his head to let her know he'd understood. The vivillon didn't give her chance to say anything else; it fluttered over weakly, trailing its poisonous powder.

Avaline had a sudden idea. "Use your special bubbles! It'll help prevent your skin from absorbing the powder!"

Thank goodness she was reading pokedex entries religiously, or she never even would have known about the coat of bubbles that froakie used to protect themselves. It seemed to work; the poison particles passed over Senshi but Avaline saw most of them stick to the outer layer of bubbles. He would absorb less than Marie had so it would take more time for it to affect him badly.

Viola seemed to have noticed this too. She was chewing her lip thoughtfully, but Avaline didn't want to give her an opportunity to come up with another strategy. "Senshi, use water pulse! Try to knock it out of the air!"

Senshi sent out a blast of water at the vivillon. Water pulse was a slightly different attack to  _ water gun,  _ in that the latter normally aimed to cause damage by knocking the opponent  _ into _ something and there wasn't much actual water type energy behind it. Froakie couldn't use water gun because the way they produced water didn't let them eject it with enough power. But with the vivillon this weakened, even water pulse should be enough to knock it out of the air.

Senshi seemed disappointed when Diva dodged his attack, but Avaline knew that quick dodges would be difficult when the vivillon was so tired. "That's okay, Senshi, keep it up. Keep Diva under pressure!"

Despite Avaline’s thoughts, Diva kept out of Senshi’s range for longer than she’d predicted. But Senshi wasn't letting up very much with his attacks, so she had no space to recover and prepare a counter attack.

One of Senshi's water pulses suddenly found their mark; the water soaked the vivillon's wings and even beating them fiercely, she started to sink to the ground with her antennae drooping.

"That's absolutely it! No more,” Viola said. There was a slight snarl to her tone which startled Avaline. She hadn’t been paying much attention to the Gym Leader at all, but now she saw her tense stance and clenched fists. 

Avaline’s stomach seemed to drop out from underneath her. But then she saw the vivillon as it fluttered to the ground, making small noises of protest and doing its best to get into the air again, and realised Viola wasn’t talking to her at all.  _ Diva... still wants to fight? _

Viola’s stern expression could have been carved from granite. After a moment, Diva gave up arguing and consented - Avaline thought kind of sullenly - to return to her pokeball. Viola visibly relaxed and offered Avaline a tired smile. "Sorry about that. Diva just never knows when to quit! She's too stubborn for her own good, that one."

Senshi let out a loud croak and bobbed his head. Avaline knelt down to gently pat him. “You did it, Senshi! And on our very first try, too.” Her stomach finally felt like it had returned to its rightful position, but she didn’t know what to say. Viola’s argument with Diva had lessened the impact of the moment, but… they still  _ won.  _

She didn’t really know what to do with that thought.  _ We won.  _

The froakie nudged the Avaline’s bag, sniffing around until he found a pokeball. 

It was actually one of her empty ones, but she understood what he meant. “Ah, we can celebrate with them later, Senshi. They need to be healed up at the Centre and to rest. As do you!” She wagged her finger at him so he would get the message. Avaline wasn’t sure if she  _ ever  _ wanted to see any of her pokemon fight on when they were as exhausted as Diva. “Hopefully next time we’ll do better…”

"What are you talking about? You did amazingly!" Viola said. 

Avaline jumped. She’d nearly forgotten Viola was there.

"I knew this was going to be a great battle; I could see on your face, the way you steeled yourself..." She laughed gently at Avaline's scowl. "I'm totally going to break that photo out at the big party when you become Champion, just so you know."

Avaline was taken aback. "What?" 

She'd thought about doing some of the Gyms for cash and so Senshi could really test himself. It had never occurred to her to even  _ think _ about challenging Kalos' Elite Four. Senshi seemed excited by the idea, jumping up and down to get her attention and then putting his webbed hands on her leg. He seemed to be trying to make his eyes look even bigger than normal. It wasn’t quite as effective on a froakie as it had been on Sunny the zigzagoon. Besides, Avaline didn’t want to encourage him at something that might still be beyond them. She settled for patting him again. 

Viola didn't seem to notice how shocked she was, and continued casually, "Yup! You already have a good grasp of strategy and risk management. You even reacted really well to a completely unknown move! It's called  _ Infestation, _ by the way. Diva and I have been working on it for a while."

So she had created a new move by herself? Even for a Gym Leader that was... impressive.

"Oh! I know." Viola turned to rummage through a bag off to the side. Avaline had assumed it was all camera stuff, but Viola pulled out a shiny disc. "Why don't I give you a copy? We just got the TM approved. Think of it as an early present for when your kakuna evolves." She winked.

“Oh… thanks,” Avaline said awkwardly. 

Senshi seemed to know who it was for, because he raced up to Viola, opening and closing his mouth. Viola correctly interpreted this as asking her to give it to him, and then Senshi hopped over to Queenie, dropping it in front of her and letting out a loud croak. When Queenie didn’t reply, he looked at Avaline in confusion.

She remembered that he hadn’t seen much of Queenie in her cocoon stage, yet. “Ah, she can’t learn it yet, Senshi. Queenie is still… getting ready to evolve?”

He seemed to accept this, and brought the TM over to Avaline’s bag, instead. 

Viola was smiling. "What a thoughtful pokemon! No wonder you did so well. You have a great team behind you, too.” That, at least, was something Avaline could agree with wholeheartedly. “Before I forget, here's the Bug Badge and the prize money you were here for in the first place."

Avaline wasn't sure what to do with all of Viola's praise, or the way that she casually threw out that she expected her to become Champion. But she was  _ very _ sure about what she was going to do with the prize money, and tried not to look to greedy when she smiled at Viola as she handed it over.

_ Finally, I'm going to get me some of those cool skates! _

...And some pokemon food and other necessities. She really  _ had  _ to drop off the caterpie and bunnelby with the pokemon centre before she went broke trying to feed six pokemon.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Current team:  
> Froakie (M) - Senshi  
> Fletchling (F) - Marie  
> Zigzagoon (M) - Sunny  
> Kakuna (F) - Queenie


	5. Investigation

Avaline's excitement carried her all the way back to the pokemon centre with a warm feeling of pride in her chest. Or rather, _skated_ her back. Because now she had skates.

The feeling only dimmed a little when she went back to her room at the Centre, only to find that Shauna wasn’t there to share the good news with. It wasn’t even lunchtime yet, so that wasn’t too surprising. She thought about going to knock on Calem's door, but decided against it. If he was in, he was probably preparing for his own Gym battle. It was best not to disturb him.

Since she had the room to herself, she decided to let her pokemon out. Sometimes it was nice just to spend time with them. Unsurprisingly, Senshi, Marie, and Sunny fell asleep almost immediately. Sunny didn't even complain about the lack of cake awaiting him outside his pokeball. The Centre's machines could heal all but the most serious of injuries without a problem, but there wasn't any real cure for exhaustion other than a good long rest. Still, it was nice to have them there. Senshi was a little sentinel at the end of the bed, Marie had made a nest in the blankets, and Sunny was lying over Avaline’s feet.

She started on translating the mysterious “Frederic DuBois’s” diary. Looking him up on the internet at least gave her a reason why the diary may not have attracted much interest. He had been an early science fiction writer known for being eccentric, and his first novel _The Crystal Gaze_ was thought to have been inspired by the myths of mega evolution. Translating his account, it did have a sense of ‘drama’ about it. Avaline could understand why someone would write it off as practice for his book. Maybe it _was_ just practice for his book?

The translation was difficult and engrossing, and it wasn’t until her stomach started rumbling that she realised she’d been working for hours. Avaline hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast, but the thought of going out for dinner made her feel suddenly exhausted. She remembered being surprised to learn that the Centres in Kalos had their own basic canteen; luckily, she hadn't worked _all_ the way through dinner. The food wasn't exactly fantastic, being designed mainly for trainers on a budget, but it was edible enough. That would do.

Sunny and Marie, and, unsurprisingly, Queenie, didn’t even stir when she recalled them, but Senshi sat up, and made insistent croaking noises until Avaline put his pokeball away and agreed to carry him downstairs with her. He was really just too cute to say no to, and it would be nice to have company.

The canteen turned out to serve food for pokemon, too, and it was past the dinner time rush, so nobody minded when Senshi sat on the table, slowly nibbling his way through a pile of pokemon food specially designed for water types.

“Not nice?” Avaline said.

Senshi ducked his head guiltily. When Avaline only giggled, he started to pick out the dark green squares.

“They’re probably good for you,” she said. “You should try to eat _some_ of it.”

Senshi nudged her plate, where she had made a small mound of untouched carrots.

Avaline narrowed her eyes. “Fine,” she said, grabbing a forkful and shovelling it into her mouth. She pulled a face. _Ugh, but they’re so overcooked…_

Looking back at his bowl of food, Senshi tentatively scooped up one of the green squares on his tongue. And then immediately spat it out, coughed, pretended to collapse, and accidentally threw himself off the table. At least, Avaline assumed it was an accident from the half-strangled croak he made.

She buried her face in her hands as everyone turned to look at them.

“Is he... okay?”

“Calem!” Avaline looked up with relief. “Did you have your Gym battle already? How did it go?”

“Ah, not badly.” Calem picked Senshi off the floor and gently placed him back on the table. Senshi flexed his legs experimentally and went back to avoiding the green squares. He seemed unharmed. “I hadn’t been planning on using Don, because of the weakness to bug types, but I had to pull him out for the last half of the battle.”

Avaline winced in sympathy. “He’s fine now, though, right?”

Calem nodded and took a seat himself. “He’s sleeping it off in my room at the moment.” He sighed. “You probably had the right idea, going in with a lot of pokemon. How did it go for you?”

Even the open-ended question, obviously in case she had _lost,_ didn’t dampen Avaline’s spirits. “We won! Everyone had a bit of a rough time, they spent this entire afternoon sleeping--” Senshi made a grumbling noise, but whatever _he_ thought, anyone would be able to recognise froakie snores when they heard them. “--but we got the badge in the end.”

He seemed momentarily surprised, but then he raised his hand for a high five. The sound echoed around the room, earning them more odd looks, but Avaline didn’t care. “Congratulations!”

Avaline couldn’t stop herself grinning from ear to ear. “Viola seemed to think I did really well, so I thought I might try the other Gyms too.”

Calem’s whole face lit up suddenly. “We can make it a competition! We’ll see who gets to the Elite Four first. But I’m not giving you a headstart just because you’re our new neighbour anymore.”

She laughed. She was certain Calem would end up winning, given everything he must know from his parents, but a little friendly competition would be fun. Besides, it was hard to refuse after seeing him get really animated about something for a change.

“We should go out for lunch tomorrow to celebrate beating the Gym, too,” Avaline said.

He gave her a rueful smile. “Shauna would insist even if we didn’t want to go, so I’m glad you suggested it.”

“Well, I promised Sunny chocolate cake, so I kind of _have_ to go.”

Senshi croaked urgently and patted her hand.

“There’ll be food for everyone, Senshi, don’t worry.”

The little froakie relaxed. And then tried, badly, to stifle a yawn.

Avaline and Calem exchanged an amused look. “I think that’s bedtime for you, mister - you know you could’ve stayed in your pokeball if you were so tired.”

Senshi made a small _ribbit_ noise which might’ve been protest, but climbed into Avaline’s arms anyway. She was feeling pretty tired herself.

Calem gave a brief wave. “See you tomorrow.”

  


The next morning Avaline lay dozing in bed, just enjoying being warm and cosy. They would be staying in Santalune City for at least another day, and she didn't have anything pressing to speak of... except calling her mother, which _had_ to be done after at least two cups of tea. Even if it was difficult to get the right sort of tea, here. Maybe her mother would be willing to forward on some of her imported stuff?

Eventually, however, she got bored of just daydreaming in bed and thought she might as well get up and have breakfast. Shauna must have gotten up early because she was nowhere to be seen. Although there was nothing urgent, there were still a few things she had to do today... like laundry, bleh. The sad thing about going on a grand adventure with pokemon was that you still had to do boring things like chores in between all the interesting bits.

Avaline missed Shauna’s friendly chatter. It wasn’t quite the same thing, but she decided to let Queenie out of her pokeball whilst she was drying and brushing her hair. Avaline was glad of something to take her mind off the process, because after spending a lot of time out in the open her hair was seriously starting to misbehave. Ugh, it was getting really dry and gross. Maybe she should look into getting a haircut? But that could be pricey for hair as thick as hers, and she'd spent a large chunk of her reward from the Gym battle yesterday on her new skates. Avaline still thought that was a fair investment, but she might have to hold off on anything else expensive for a while. Luckily, pokemon food was subsidised in Kalos in the same way it had been in Johto, so she wasn't forking out a fortune just to feed her team.

"...So anyway," she said, picking up her one-sided conversation with Queenie again, "we're going out with Shauna and Calem later today to celebrate. You can be out as well, I'm sure everyone would like to see you again, even though you can't talk back very much at the moment. And you can be there for moral support when I call Mum! She's going to be so mad that I forgot to call earlier. Do you know how hypocritical that is?! I cannot count the number of times _she's_ forgotten to call _me_ due to afterparties and whatnot... okay, I can see her on TV, but that's not the same!"

It reminded Avaline of talking to Roran, which made her feel a little homesick again. She suddenly missed her mother desperately, even though Vaniville was barely a day’s walk away, which was certainly closer than Mum had been during the most active parts of her racing career. Maybe it was worse because she didn’t have her friends in Johto around her. They’d exchanged some emails - Mariko had faithfully messaged her every day about Appa - but it wasn’t the same as painting her nails with Mariko or groaning at Akane’s terrible puns.

Avaline emailed Mariko anyway, keeping up a running commentary to Queenie the entire time. She attached a picture of Senshi that she’d taken last night; he’d leapt straight out of her arms and curled up on the bed. She’d drawn the line at him actually sleeping next to her all night, though, mainly because she had noticed he kicked a lot in his sleep.

She read over the email again, biting her lip. “Do you think it will look bad, if I talk about my new pokemon?”

Of course Queenie couldn’t reply, but as soon as she’d said it out loud, Avaline felt silly. She loved Senshi very much already, but that was because he was _Senshi._ Not because he was a replacement for Appa.

By the time Avaline was satisfied, and had finished her phone call to her mother, it was later than she’d expected. She’d missed breakfast by over an hour! Calem and Shauna were probably wondering where she was.

"Oh crap," she whispered. Maybe she could convince them to make it like a brunch date?

She hastily gathered up her things, picking up Queenie last of all. "Sorry to bore you with all that stuff," she said, hugging her tightly, “but thanks for listening."

Queenie didn't respond. _Soon,_ Avaline thought. Or at least she hoped so.

She couldn't find Calem and Shauna in the Pokemon Centre and eventually had to call them. They'd both eaten a big breakfast and wanted to wait until lunch time for their big 'do so Avaline stopped to have the lightest possible breakfast, even though she was getting pretty hungry. Lunchtime couldn't come soon enough!

To distract herself, she found a busy little cafe on one of the main thoroughfares and took a seat outside. Technically, the cafe didn't allow pokemon outside of their pokeballs. But when Avaline held up Queenie and gave the waitress her biggest smile, very earnestly telling her about Leader Viola's _really important advice,_ the waitress agreed that it was probably fine.

Avaline ordered a huge pot of the fruity tea she'd adopted as an acceptable replacement for her normal Johto tea and sat and watched people pass the cafe. She tried to spot the tourists, providing commentary for Queenie, but that felt a little less fun when she realised she was able to recognise them by seeing them stare at all the things _she_ had stared at. So then she tried to spot the trainers, and assigned each one their ideal 'pokemon partner'. She still wasn't up to date on all of the pokemon in Kalos, so most of her picks were pokemon from Johto, but it didn't really matter since it was just between her and Queenie.

By the time they had to leave to meet Calem and Shauna for lunch, Avaline felt much better. There was something about Queenie’s presence that was really calming. “Thanks for being here, Queenie,” she said.  
  


 

The little lunchtime celebration went well. Sunny was so excited to get his slice of chocolate cake that he actually resembled a normal zigzagoon for a change. He crashed completely after eating half his body weight in food, and fell into a deep sleep under Avaline's chair. Marie, meanwhile, went out to all the other customers' tables using her charms to beg for crumbs. It was going quite well for her until she got chased off by somebody's jealous roggenrola (Avaline had to check the pokedex to see what it was; it seemed weird for it to be jealous when they didn't even _eat_ sandwiches!). Senshi went to rescue her, managing to give off the solemn air of a disappointed parent far more effectively than Avaline, and after that, Marie confined herself to hiding in the greenery, practising her singing.

Senshi returned to his seat on Avaline’s knee. Queenie had the spare chair in the shade, which she shared with Felix. Calem's chespin, Don, had gone to sit amongst the café’s decorative plants. Well, being trapped in an urban environment probably wasn't super fun for a grass type.

They chatted about inane things for a while, but eventually conversation turned to more serious matters - their plans for meeting the professor.

Naturally, Calem had already thought about the logistics of the trip. "It takes basically a whole day to walk to Lumiose City, so I think we should go the day before. We should get there in the evening and then be ready to meet Professor Sycamore at his lab mid-morning.”

Shauna pouted. "I kinda like Santalune. Couldn't we get the monorail in, instead? Then we could have a whole extra day here!"

Avaline was privately voting against this in an effort to preserve her cash. She really wanted that haircut soon, after all.

Luckily, Calem shook his head before she had to come up with an answer that didn't make her look like a miser. "The power in Lumiose City has been extremely sketchy recently. They're not sure exactly what's going on, but whenever the power goes, the monorail is the first thing they shut down since it's considered a non-vital service. They don't want to waste the generators and Gym pokemon on it. We don't want to get up in the morning and find that the service has been cancelled!"

Avaline perked up slightly at the mention of a Gym. It would be cool to tackle another one! Then again, by the sounds of things it was an electric type specialty, and since Queenie still wasn't available for battling, now wasn’t a good time. Besides, she was pretty sure the Lumiose Gym was recommended as a fourth badge. It was probably out of her league (no pun intended).

Shauna sighed, but seemed to accept Calem's reasoning. "That still leaves us with two days here, so it's not too bad. What are you guys planning to do with the time left?"

“Should we start looking into mega evolution?” Avaline asked anxiously. “I did a little bit of research, but I’m not sure if it’s enough.”

"You've started researching mega evolution already?" Calem said, blinking.

Avaline felt a little self conscious, not sure if he was impressed or if it was like when somebody was a bit too eager to volunteer to help the teacher and came off as desperate. "Yeah? I was a bit jet lagged still the first night here, so I had some time to kill. It's not much, but..."

"No way!" Shauna said. “But this is really amazing, Ava! You work so hard! I think we should all do something.”

Calem nodded, turning to Avaline. "Got any ideas? It might be easier if we split the work between us, and then we'll have more to present to the professor. It would give us something to do in the evenings, too."

"Then we can share what we've found when we get to Professor Sycamore, he'll probably want to make us official assistants!" Shauna said cheerfully. Avaline smiled. It always buoyed her mood to see Shauna throw herself into everything with such enthusiasm.

Avaline nodded along with them, only to realise… uh oh. She wasn't the unofficial leader of the research now, was she? This was _totally_ what happened when you volunteered for too many things.

"Uh..." She fumbled for some sort of division of labour that wouldn't seem unfair or really silly. "Well, I found this old diary which is supposed to be a description of mega evolution, but it needs translating. I already started so I guess I’ll continue with that." Also, she had invested _way_ too much effort into that to just hand it over to someone else. Uh, and what should she ask the others to do.

"Okay... Calem, you probably know the most about pokemon, so here...." She described the weird picture of the lucario she’d found, promising to give him the physical copy back at the Centre. "I only came up with this one but I didn't really know what I was searching for, and I might have missed a few others since I don't really know Kalos pokemon very well."

Calem nodded thoughtfully. “And you said it was just on someone’s blog?”

"Yeah, but I thought we might be able to get an idea where the picture was taken.” Avaline felt herself blushing from the scrutiny. “Um, from the surrounding area, I mean.”

Calem nodded. “I've travelled a lot with my parents, so maybe I'll recognise a landmark or something."

"What about me?" Shauna asked eagerly.

Avaline started pretending to search her bag so she wouldn’t have to give an answer immediately. The she remembered her idea of looking further into the legends about mega evolution.  "Well... I guess it’s kind of like a puzzle, so you might enjoy it?" she muttered, mainly to herself. She realised she'd spoken out loud and cleared her throat awkwardly. "Er, I mean... you know how Dexio and Sina were talking about the historical accounts of mega evolution in Kalos, the myths and stuff?"

"Uh huh." Shauna was giving Avaline her full attention. Her cheeks must have been noticeably red by now, because they felt like they were burning.

"I was thinking... if you looked through a bunch of those, you could see what common elements you could find, which might tell us more about the process? And my diary entry is supposed to be an account of someone witnessing mega evolution, so we can see how much it matches up with that."

Calem frowned. "I thought mega evolution was supposed to be basically unheard of? If there's an account of it in somebody's diary, why didn't it draw any attention?"

"I'm not a hundred percent sure," Avaline admitted. "I think people thought he was making it up?"

"Maybe Professor Sycamore will give you permission to go directly to the archive where its kept," Shauna said, her eyes lighting up. "Then you can look at the whole thing in real life! That would be like being a proper historian!"

Avaline wasn't sure being a ‘proper historian' was anything to get that excited about, but it was definitely a good idea.

They’d already been at the cafe for a few hours, and the waiters kept pointedly coming over to ask if they needed anything else. The three of them agreed to go their separate ways for the afternoon. Shauna very loudly declared that she would spend the whole day researching in order to catch up with Avaline, which drew some odd looks.

Avaline was planning to spend at least some of her time finding trainers to challenge to battle. The praise from Viola had at least made her feel that she could do a decent job against fellow newbie trainers and she wanted to try to earn some money to put towards a haircut... and more shopping, probably. Maybe she could go and work on the translation in the nice cafe she’d visited with Queenie before they met up again for dinner.

Calem said he wanted to look at the blog Avaline had found the photo on right away, whilst the Pokemon Centre wasn't likely to be full of trainers, which left Shauna and Avaline to say their goodbyes.

"I think you must be really clever to do that translation thing all by yourself, Ava," Shauna said. "I bet it’s really hard work."

"Ava?" she said. She realised suddenly that Shauna had used it a few times in the conversation, but she hadn’t really noticed at the time.

Shauna bit her lip, looking uncharacteristically nervous. "You don't mind if I call you Ava, do you? I didn't mean to be too friendly or anything..."

Avaline smiled at her reassuringly. It felt strange, because her friends in Johto had always called her _Lin_ for short. But Shauna's nickname felt right, too. Maybe that was how it should be; a different nickname for each different home. "No, it's fine. I don't mind at all! I was just surprised."

It was only after they had parted ways that Avaline realised she'd thought of Kalos as _home._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Current team:  
> Froakie (M) - Senshi  
> Fletchling (F) - Marie  
> Zigzagoon (M) - Sunny  
> Kakuna (F) - Queenie


	6. Hello, Professor

Avaline’s plans to earn a little more cash from trainer battles were derailed when, in her first match since the Gym battle with Viola, Marie was hit by a water gun attack and shrieked and dived behind Avaline for cover.

The panpour’s trainer gave her a look of concern.

“Marie? Is something wrong?” 

Marie fluttered up to Avaline’s shoulder, nuzzling into her hair, but otherwise didn’t give her any clues. 

Avaline spread her hands helplessly towards the other trainer.

“Ah… don’t worry about it,” the girl said. “Feel better soon, birdie!”

The panpour saluted, and then the two of them left.

Marie let out a very quiet cheep.

“It’s okay,” Avaline said, although she wasn’t sure what the fletchling was trying to say. “Let’s go have some tea with Queenie, alright?”

At the cafe, Marie pecked half-heartedly at a slice of bread. She was still unusually quiet, almost morose. Avaline wasn’t sure whether to broach the subject, or even  _ how,  _ so she let Marie have some space, and instead played the ‘choose a partner pokemon’ game for Queenie’s benefit. 

After a few minutes, Marie fluttered over and perched on the arm of Avaline’s chair.

She smiled at Marie. “Do you feel better now?"

Marie bobbed her head, and ruffled her feathers. Then she seemed to droop a little.

“What’s wrong? Something about the battle…?”

There was a pause, and then Marie bobbed her head again, slowly.

Avaline bit her lip. Life would be much easier if pokemon could just  _ talk.  _ “Did you... get scared?”

Another head bob.

“How come?”

The fletchling hid her face beneath her wing. Then she perked up, letting out a small chirp and flying over to Avaline’s bag, which was still open from her paying for the tea and Marie’s snack. Marie moved a few things around with her beak, and then tapped something metallic.

Avaline leaned over to pull it out and realised it was the case for her Gym badges. “The battle with Viola?”

Marie bobbed her head again. 

Avaline’s heart sank. How could she have been so thoughtless? Marie had probably had the worst time of any of her pokemon, it was perfectly natural that she might feel nervous about fighting again, but it hadn’t even crossed Avaline’s mind. “I’m so sorry, Marie. I shouldn’t have made you fight for so long. I--”

Marie chirped loudly to interrupt. She flew over to Avaline and pecked her hand, sharp enough to sting.

Now Avaline was really confused. “It… wasn’t the battle with Viola at all?” That couldn’t be it, because Marie had been very specific about  _ that _ part. A flash of inspiration struck. “Or it’s not  _ just  _ the battle with Viola?”

She was rewarded with a head bob and a sad chirp.

Avaline felt like she was starting to get it now. The only battles Marie had had before the Gym had been short skirmishes against wild bug pokemon and a very one-sided trainer battle. It was partly Avaline’s fault, for relying too much on the type advantage and not ‘training’ with Marie properly, but the battle again Viola had been the fletchling’s first real pokemon battle. “So... you’ve realised you don’t like fighting at all, Marie?”

Marie gave another sad chirp and ducked her head, as though ashamed. 

Avaline swept her up into her arms for a hug. “Don’t be silly, you don’t have any reason to feel bad!” Maybe that was why Marie hadn’t raised it before now. “Not everyone is going to like battling, and that’s fine! There are lots of other things pokemon can do, you know.”

Marie chirped again, tilting her head with interest. 

“Yeah! You can work with kids in nurseries getting them used to pokemon--” That was where the bunnelby she’d caught had gone. “--and, well, lots of other stuff! Come on, we can ask the nurses when you’ve finished eating and find something cool for you to do.”

Marie began pecking at her bread slice with greater urgency. Avaline giggled at her enthusiasm, but there wasn’t the feeling of relief that she expected from hearing that Marie wasn’t upset with  _ her _ .

The nurse at the Centre was really helpful. She explained all of Marie’s options to her - of which there were dozens, quite a lot more than in Johto - and suggested she take a few days to think them over, rather than making her decide immediately. Avaline tried to be as useful as she could, letting Marie bounce ideas off her even though it was difficult to make out what the fletchling was saying half the time. During their last afternoon in Santalune City, Marie decided she wanted to try out for a part in the Kalosian film industry. Avaline thought Marie was charming enough that she had a decent shot at it. 

It was hard to say goodbye, but at the same time, Marie was so excited that it was difficult to feel sad about it. Avaline wasn’t sure if it was a good or bad sign, but she was at least glad that Marie would get to do something more to her liking now. 

  
  


The journey to Lumiose City was uneventful. Avaline still caught a few pokemon, and Shauna even found a skitty that wanted to be friends whilst they stopped for lunch. (It literally came out of the grass to sit next to Shauna and started purring.) Although Avaline hadn’t spoken much about Marie, the other two seemed to understand her sudden reserve. After lunch, Calem started talking about the lucario picture he’d looked at, saying there hadn’t really been enough difference to conclude if it was just dressed up or actually mega evolved, but he had found some other promising pictures.

“Maybe there will be some paintings to look at, too,” he said. “If mega evolution was better known historically, then someone might have painted one of the unusual forms. Maybe Professor Sycamore will know more about that sort of thing.”

“Ooh, me next!” Shauna even raised her hand like they were in class. She lowered it and cleared her throat loudly. “I compared a bunch of old myths about mega evolution, and I found something interesting! Remember how the professor’s assistants said there was some kind of stone the pokemon had to mega evolve? Weeell, a lot of the stories mention there being one for the trainers, too!”

She looked pleased with herself. Avaline was also pretty pleased, because that was a perfect segue into what she wanted to say, and meant she didn’t have to add very much. “I finished the translation of the novelist’s diary.  _ He  _ claimed to have met a ‘master’ of mega evolution who used a lucario, and he mentioned that the lucario had a special stone which matched its species, and the trainer had a much smaller stone, called a key stone.”

“I guess that makes the lucario more likely to be mega evolved,” Calem said. “Although it could just be a coincidence…”

Shauna made a dismissive noise. “Come on, Calem! Show some enthusiasm! ‘Coincidence’ is such a boring explanation.”

They bickered for a while longer - mainly due to Shauna’s efforts. Avaline thought it might’ve been an attempt to cheer her up. She let the conversation wash over her and just smiled at her friends’ antics. 

Like Calem had said, the journey was a long one - and they'd clearly all underestimated their level of fitness because they slowed considerably in the final stretch and didn't reach Lumiose City until after it had gone dark. They were still able to get rooms in the pokemon centre (poor Calem had to share with a stranger again), but Avaline was so tired she went straight to bed, despite feeling yucky and sweaty and generally unclean. 

  
  


The next morning, outside Professor Sycamore's lab, the three of them stood feeling dwarfed and awed by its ornate architecture. At least, Avaline was feeling pretty dwarfed and awed, and Calem and Shauna looked sort of impressed. Her old worries had returned and she wished she could take Queenie out to at least be able to speak her mind, but she thought it would be frowned upon to have half of a breakdown on the front steps of Kalos' most preeminent pokemon professor.

Avaline trailed slightly behind Shauna and Calem as they entered. She'd worried about having to explain herself to some sort of receptionist - for some reason, in her head, she felt certain they'd sneer at her down their nose - but she was relieved to see that Dexio and Sina were waiting for them in the lobby.

"Hello, all of you," Sina said pleasantly. "I hope the journey wasn't too bad; the monorail has unfortunately had to be quite inconsistent lately."

They were able to share a few words about the journey there, which made Avaline feel more relaxed, before Dexio gestured towards the lift and said, "Come on, Professor Sycamore should be waiting for you."

Avaline's mouth was feeling suddenly very dry, and it might have been just the elevator ride, but her stomach felt like it was doing loop-the-loops.

They stopped at the top floor and Dexio and Sina let them into a room which must have been Professor Sycamore's office, although the man himself wasn't sitting behind the grand looking desk that dominated the room. He greeted them with a smile.

They made introductions, where Avaline only just managed to say her own name clearly, even though Professor Sycamore seemed perfectly friendly. She’d praised his taste after seeing Dexio’s and Sina’s uniforms, but he was wearing slacks and a rumpled blue shirt, which made him look unhealthily pale and was completely the wrong shade to bring out his eyes. It felt like a betrayal to think he kind of looked like a dork. He was a world famous pokemon professor! Though maybe that only made his dork-ness more profound...

Avaline’s stomach did another flip when Sina and Dexio went back downstairs. 

"Thanks for coming, all of you," Sycamore said. "And of course, for agreeing to help in the first place. Now, I'm sure you all have other things you'd like to be doing, so I don't want to keep you too long, but we'll just talk through mega evolution and then..."

"We can show you our research!" Shauna interjected brightly. She didn't seem even slightly intimidated by being in the presence of a world-renown scientist and trying to big up her own 'research', although that may have been because she immediately followed it by adding, "It was Ava's idea! She's really clever."

Professor Sycamore seemed taken aback. He looked at Avaline and offered her a smile, which she tentatively returned. "Well, I didn't expect you to be quite so studious, but it's no bad thing to get started early - why don't I gather some chairs and you can talk me through what you've done so far."

_ I totally DID make myself the unofficial leader of this mess _ , Avaline thought ruefully.  _ Way to go, me. _

She'd hoped she at least be able to let Shauna and Calem carry two thirds of their impromptu presentation (maybe even more, because unless she wanted to read out the whole of her translation, there actually wasn't a whole lot to say about it), but they were both content to leave the majority of the explaining to her and only chip in every now and then, the traitors.

Once she'd finished she sat back anxiously with her hands gripped between her knees so it would be too obvious that she was shaking. Avaline had never really enjoyed giving speeches in front of the class in Johto, either, but those feelings definitely paled in comparison to being in front of a world famous scientist _. _

To her surprise, though, he was actually very approving. He had been nodding the whole way through but Avaline had been worried that was just politeness. But no, he had just said, 'Wow, you've all done so well' ...and actually  _ meant  _ it.

"If you're at all interested in doing further research into pokemon when you're a little older, I'd definitely hire you," he added. Avaline was pretty sure that one was a joke. Professor Sycamore's voice was kind of smooth and even, which made it nice to listen to, but also not the easiest thing in the world for her to read the nuances of. She glanced at Shauna and Calem for cues, but they were both quite solemn.

"Do you think we're on the right track?" Avaline said carefully.

"Oh, of course!" Sycamore said. "You've covered everything that I would've thought of, and more. Where were you going to go from here? Maybe I can help."

Shauna and Calem looked at her expectantly despite her trying to signal them with wide eyes. After an awkward pause she gave up and said, "Well, I wanted to look into the diary some more, maybe trying to find some other sources that might depict mega evolution - Calem mentioned old paintings!"

"Alas, the museum of art here is closed because of the recurring blackouts," Professor Sycamore said. "The archivists are working hard to preserve some of the older, more delicate pieces of work and aren't opening to the public right now." 

“Oh,” she said. That put a stop to her plans to offload the logistics of that onto Calem.

"You could try going to Parfum Palace - one of our old king's palaces," Sycamore said, this time directed at Avaline.  _ Nooo! How could this happen?! Why am I in charge?  _ "It's privately owned and they have an extensive collection of paintings. I can't help much with getting you in, though; the owner is notorious for keeping much of the collection locked away. Still, you might as well ask.

"As for the diary," he continued. Avaline sat up a little straighter. She was at least  _ invested  _ in this bit; she’d put in too much effort into that translation to hand it off to someone else. And now she was weirdly interested in Frederic DuBois and wanted to know more about him. "That I  _ can _ help you with. It's in an archive in Shalour City. I'll write to the archivist on your behalf, let them know to expect you."

"That would be great!" she said brightly, momentarily forgetting her nerves. 

Sycamore smiled at her. "I'd plan a long stay, though; they often don’t allow you to photocopy pages, so you’d have to work in the archive itself, and reading older books can be… complicated."

"You're telling me," Avaline groused.

The professor laughed. "I actually have another lead for you, as well - an old friend in Ambrette Town. It was supposed to be for fossils, but they found some unusual stones out there. I was going to ask you to check it out anyway, but from what you've found out, I'm pretty confident that it really is a mega stone. Who knows? Maybe you'll find more of them there too. Can't hurt to look! Oh, and I'd also recommend you check out Geosenge Town; I don't know of anything there that you should look out for especially, but it's steeped in old history and a lot of the residents are very familiar with Kalos lore. Perhaps there will be something there to help you."

Calem 'hmmed' thoughtfully. "So, if we want to go to all those places... the best route might be to go through Camphrier Town and then follow the coastline... we'd pass through Ambrette and Geosenge Town before ending up at Shalour City."

"That seems a sensible route," Professor Sycamore said.

Avaline brightened. “That means I can catch an eevee in Geosenge Town!”

Everyone looked at her. Oh no, she’d said that out loud. In what was supposed to be a serious meeting. Avaline’s smile felt frozen to her face. Shauna patted her hand in what was probably meant to be a comforting gesture but actually felt a little condescending. 

After a moment, Professor Sycamore cleared his throat. “There was also one other thing I wanted to mention to you. Have any of you heard of Team Flare?”

"Are they the fashion cult people?" Shauna said.

_ Fashion cult?  _ Avaline wondered if she should be offended. She'd spent at least ten minutes with Shauna this morning discussing whether she should go for the dress to wear to Sycamore's lab or if the jeans-and-shirt combo would suggest more of a 'serious trainer' look. (Avaline had eventually decided that since they were in a city, Professor Sycamore probably wouldn't be too fussed about her wearing a slightly-less-practical dress. And it made her look a little more professional.)

Sycamore coughed, trying - and failing - to disguise a laugh. "They're the people in the orange suits and dyed hair, yes."

Calem discreetly showed her a photo on his holo caster. Avaline found herself wrinkling her nose. Bright orange suits? So gross and anti-fashion. No need for Avaline to be offended, Shauna would never confuse her with those weirdos. And they dyed their hair to match?  _ Ugh, why would you do that to yourself? _

"Well, it might be that it's just some malicious rumours, given that people who, er,  _ stick out from the crowd _ can attract negative attention. Nevertheless there have been reports of them getting up to mischief lately, so I wanted to warn the three of you to be careful.”

They exchanged glances and nodded, but having actually seen what a member of ‘Team Flare’ looked like, it was hard to think they might be at all dangerous. 

"Anyway, now that we've got the serious stuff all out of the way," Sycamore said, clapping his hands together and looking suddenly excited. "I've got another present for you all. Think of it as a reward for all the hard work you've put in already. I'm counting on you three."

He took three pokeballs out of his inside pocket and let out the pokemon in them.

_ No. Way. _

Avaline's jaw dropped. Rare Kalos pokemon, and now rare Kanto pokemon too?! Holy wow, maybe she really should consider working for Professor Sycamore when she was a bit older, his employees must get  _ all _ the perks.

Calem and Shauna's response was a little underwhelming, but Avaline could forgive them for that, especially since she'd been the same with the Kalos pokemon.

"I'll definitely take charmander!" Avaline said quickly. Maybe it was a little unfair to choose first twice in a row, but she'd never really gotten on with grass types and well, she already had a water type so squirtle, as cute as it was, would be kind of a waste of a choice.

The charmander looked at her with narrowed eyes, sizing her up. Avaline put on her best smile. It snorted, but wandered in her general direction. 'I guess you'll do,' she could almost imagine it saying. It could have been a more enthusiastic response, but it could have also outright turned her down, too. That would have been embarrassing! She was sure he'd warm up to her after a while, and they'd be good friends.

_ Just think! A charmander! Little old me has a charmander. _

And you could catch wild eevee in Kalos. Her friends in Johto might legitimately die of envy. Avaline made a mental note to email Mariko as soon as possible. 

There wasn't much debate to be had between Calem and Shauna, because Calem obviously had no need for another grass type, so the squirtle went to Calem and Shauna took the bulbasaur, who looked delighted by her enthusiastic greeting. Avaline had to admit that that bulbasaur was especially cute, even if she generally wasn't a fan of grass types.

They said their goodbyes and made their way downstairs. As they stepped out of the elevator, Avaline was surprised to see Sina talking to a stranger. He was a tall, well-dressed man - that suit could conceivably have cost more than her entire wardrobe, which was saying something - with flaming red hair and a solemn demeanour.

"Ah, this must be them now," he said, breaking away from his conversation with Sina at their approach. He was incredibly soft spoken, but still possessed a commanding presence, possibly because he seemed to tower over everyone. Avaline sneaked a look at his shoes, but there wasn't a significant heel. "Hello, I hear you're assisting Professor Sycamore with his research. My name is Lysandre Roi. It's a pleasure to meet you all."

They all nodded and shook hands. Even Shauna seemed muted by his presence, although she was still able to mention their research with mega evolution - except she called it 'Ava's research'.  _ Stop pointing at me, Shauna! _

"Ah! I see you're wearing a holo caster." Avaline was slightly perturbed to find that he was addressing her, gesturing at the device on her wrist. "One of my inventions. I do hope it's been useful to you. Knowledge is power, after all."

_ What a weird thing to say, _ Avaline thought. Still, inventing something like the holo caster explained why we was so rich. Out loud, she said, "Yes, it's really vital to communicate with people to get things done." She stared at Calem and Shauna slightly. "Cooperation is important."

"Indeed." Lysandre smiled. "You seem like trainers full of potential. It's wonderful that Professor Sycamore gifted you with a pokedex." Even though he said  _ all _ , he was kind of looking at Avaline as he said it. "I've tried to learn as much about pokemon as I can in order to build a brighter future. Of course, Professor Sycamore has been a great help with that. I do hope you will make the most of this opportunity and learn as much from him as you can. It is young trainers like you who will grow up to make the world a better place, and help our society grow beyond the problems it faces currently... oh, but I'm sure you have better things to do than to listen to me all day. I look forward to seeing how you progress."

He gave Sina a regal nod. "I must be on my way. Please, give my regards to Professor Sycamore."

Even after he'd left, Avaline, Shauna, and Calem remained standing there. She felt kind of dumbstruck.  _ What on earth... _

"You'll have to forgive Mr. Roi," Sina said. "He can come off... a little strongly, sometimes, but it's because he's so passionate about his work. As well as researching new technology, he also works with several charities fighting global inequality. You could probably tell, but he takes a great interest in anything or anyone whom he feels may contribute to a better future."

"Oh, so he's the big sponsor Professor Sycamore had to meet instead of travelling to Aquacorde Town?" Avaline said.

"He's a descendant of our former king and very well respected," Sina said awkwardly. It wasn't a no.

"What  _ is  _ Professor Sycamore working on right now, anyway?" Calem asked.

"We’re studying properties of the energy given off by pokemon when they evolve." It was obvious that Sina was much more interested in this topic, because her whole demeanour changed and her eyes lit up. "Between you and me, it's going pretty well. Pokemon change forms when they evolve, which also heals old scar tissue and has even been known to regrow limbs. Think of the medical applications if we could harness the excess energy!"

That did, to be fair, sound  _ way _ more important than their mega evolution investigation... and way more complicated. No wonder Professor Sycamore had pawned off mega evolution off on to a group of random trainers.

Shauna was extremely interested and wanted to ask Sina further questions. She even took out a notepad, saying that her parents, especially her dad would love to hear about it and she didn't want to forget anything.

...Parents.

_ Oh noooo! _

"Guys!" Avaline wailed. She was a bit louder than she meant and they all stopped dead, even the receptionist who was taking a random phone call. The only way to get over the awkwardness was to bluster onwards whilst pretending not to have noticed it. "I promised my mum I would call her two days ago  _ and I completely forgot, _ she's going to kill me so I'm just going to find a little cafe somewhere and I'll see you back at the Pokemon Centre later, okay?"

"Okay!" Shauna echoed, still distracted and scribbling in her notepad. Calem gave her a small wave and mouthed 'good luck!'

Sina looked kind of disapproving and Avaline took that as her cue to make a hasty retreat before she got some sort of lecture. A warm up lecture for her mother's Disappointed Lecture of Parental Sadness. She’d have to talk about Marie, too. This wouldn’t be a fun conversation at all. 

There was a cafe just down the road. It was quite busy, but in a way that was good, because even if her mother got really,  _ really _ loud, nobody would be able to overhear. Also, maybe it would make for a convenient opportunity to pretend an emergency and escape.

To her complete shock, in the cafe, she found Lysandre Roi himself.  _ Not again! _ But luckily he didn't seem to have noticed her because he was discussing something with... holy shit, was that Diantha?!

Avaline was torn between her desire to see the famous movie star in the flesh and to not be spotted by the slightly unnerving Lysandre. In the end curiosity won, though she tried to snag as inconspicuous a table as possible. They both seemed to be a little angry with the other, because their voices were raised slightly and she could just about overhear their conversation whilst pretending to peruse the menu.

"A strange question," Diantha - it was really Diantha! - was saying. "Why would I want to be young forever? Perhaps youth is beautiful, but it's not all there is to life. In fact, I'm looking forward very much to playing different roles as I get older."

"Hmph," Lysandre said. "Different is not always better, and there are some things one would prefer not to experience. I would end the world in an instant rather than see beauty fade from it... but perhaps this is something we will never see eye to eye on."

"Indeed," Diantha said coldly.

_ Wow, they really don't like each other... _

Lysandre sighed and cast his eyes about. Avaline quickly focussed her eyes back on her menu and tried to shrink behind it slightly, but it was too late; he'd already spotted her. She really hoped he hadn't seen her eavesdropping.

"Oh, hello again, Mr. Roi," she said as innocently as she could, whilst sweating buckets at the thought of pretending to be the only person in the cafe not to have noticed the man talking with a  _ world famous actress. _

"Avaline," he said politely. She dared to relax slightly. "This is Diantha; I suppose you recognise her, but you should know she's also an accomplished trainer. Diantha, this is one of the girls assisting Professor Sycamore in his research on mega evolution that I mentioned."

"Mega evolution, huh?" Diantha smiled at Avaline warmly. She found herself blushing. Diantha really was as gorgeous in real life as she appeared on the screen.  _ I bet she has perfect hair, too. Some people get all the luck.  _ "Pleased to meet you, Avaline."

"P-Pleased to meet you, Dian... Miss Diantha," Avaline replied, totally failing at appearing cool and casual.

Diantha laughed merrily, whilst Lysandre mumbled something to himself and left with only a short goodbye.

"...Don't mind him," Diantha said. "I'm afraid we've never seen eye to eye on a lot of things, but we also work closely together on a few projects and so, naturally, we're always butting heads." She had such a friendly and easy way of speaking. An actual approachable movie star. Avaline felt like she was dreaming. "Do you mind if I sit for a little while?"

"Oh, yes! I-I mean no, I don't mind." Avaline cursed herself for getting all tongue-tied. Why couldn't she have been tongue-tied in front of the professor, huh? Why now, probably the only chance she'd get to sit and talk with  _ Diantha _ of all people?!

Diantha pretended not to notice that nearly everyone in the cafe was staring at them. Avaline supposed that, as a movie star, Diantha must have had a lot of practice, but  _ she  _ could feel herself blushing at the attention. "I'm really interested in the myths about mega evolution, too, but I didn't realise that Professor Sycamore thought it might actually be a real thing. Can you tell me about what you're doing so far?"

Diantha's interest was flattering; she listened very attentively and asked a few questions which showed she understood what she was talking about. Avaline's confidence in her presentation skills soared.

"Wow, it sounds exciting!" Diantha said. "How did you end up getting involved? I hope you don't mind me saying so, but your accent suggests you've not always lived in Kalos."

The mention of her accent made Avaline wilt a little, even though it wasn't in a negative way at all, but she tried not to show it. "Oh, well my mother was a rhyhorn racer who retired recently, and she wanted to move back here where she grew up--"

" _ No way! _ " Diantha was suddenly staring at her wide eyed. "You're Grace's daughter! I can't believe it."

"Uh, yeah," Avaline managed to say, feeling like she'd been transported to some kind of opposite land. "Do you...?"

"I'm her. Biggest. Fan!" Diantha blurted. "Do you know if she’s going to be at the charity gala for the NSPCP? They said they might invite her, it would be so exciting to finally meet her!"

"Um," Avaline said eloquently. "I'll definitely ask for you..."

When Diantha finished gushing about her mother, Avaline walked, in a daze, to a cafe where she would attract a little less attention. 

_ "Young lady, what time do you call this--" _

"Mum, mum, you'll never guess what!" Avaline said, then considered that she should probably just go ahead before her mother had time to really get revved up. "I met Diantha in Lumiose City and we had coffee!"

_ "Wh... really? What's she like?”  _ Avaline breathed a sigh of relief. Her mother had been sufficiently distracted. _ “Holy crap, I can't believe you actually met her!" _

"She was lovely! But that's not even the best part."

_ "Huh?" _

"She asked for your autograph."

_ "Are you kidding me?!" _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Current team:  
> Froakie (M) - Senshi  
> Zigzagoon (M) - Sunny  
> Kakuna (F) - Queenie  
> Charmander


	7. Got a Connection

They stayed in Lumiose City for another few days, mainly to rest and recuperate from their big trek from Santalune City. Avaline was disappointed to discover that the boutiques in Lumiose were way out of her price range, even after she spent a full day battling trainers on Parterre Way (Route 4; she was finally getting used to the difference). Luckily, that day wasn't a total waste, as Senshi also evolved into a frogadier! Avaline was so proud of him that she took everyone out to a cafe to celebrate and spent half the money she'd earned battling anyway. Even the new charmander had a great time, although he was still standoffish to Avaline.

The morning they were due to leave, Avaline _finally_ got a slot in the hair salon down the road from the pokemon centre they were staying in. She told Calem and Shauna to go on ahead without her, and, crossing her fingers that it didn't turn out _too_ terribly and trusting to Diantha's good taste, asked for a pixie cut. The hairdresser must have thought her a bit mad since she kept her eyes screwed shut the whole time, but to her relief it actually turned out okay. Her head felt like a giant weight had been lifted off it.

Still, that much hair didn't come off that easily or quickly, and she was two hours behind Calem and Shauna. Avaline rushed out of the salon as soon as she'd paid. Fingers crossed she wasn't _absolutely_ covered in hair.

When she burst through the gates on to Versant Road, though, she came to a stop after only a few steps. Something in the atmosphere felt different. Not a bad sort of different by any means... in fact, it was a comforting feeling that made her think of shared laughter and companionable silences.

At the side of the road, some tall bushes rustled. Avaline turned to look curiously. After a few moments, a lucario burst out, making an inquisitive noise.

"Hi," Avaline said softly, careful not to startle it. Lucario were pretty much unheard of in the wild, so this was probably already owned by a trainer. They were said to be excellent judges of character and it was an honour to even be approached by one. "Are you okay? You're not lost, are you?"

The lucario shook its head. It wasn't uncommon for pokemon who spent a long time with people, especially more humanoid-shaped pokemon, to pick up human body language and cues over the years. She still found it impossible not to smile.

Slowly, the lucario came closer until it was standing only a few inches away from Avaline. It was only half a head shorter than her. Avaline kind of wanted to give it a hug, but she felt that that wouldn't be appreciated after they'd only just met. Luckily, she had another idea.

"Hey, want me to teach you a cool new human thing? You can show off to your trainer when they get here."

The lucario's ear perked up.

"You hold your fist out-" Avaline didn't finish before the lucario jerked away. She remembered reading that one of the reasons they weren't considered dangerous despite their strength and the metal-like spikes on their fists was their extreme care when interacting with people. She made shushing noises. "No, no, it's okay. You hold your fist flat like this. Look, see?" She held her fist out with the back of her hand facing up, to demonstrate. "No danger."

It sniffed the air for a moment, but then the lucario seemed to decide that it was okay and copied her position. It did look kind of silly for a pokemon.

Avaline giggled. "Now, you tap them together. It's called a fistbump."

They tapped fists.

'Teach a lucario to fistbump' had never been on Avaline's bucket list, but it was definitely a thing to brag about now that she had done it. Maybe it could be on her gravestone. 'Dearly departed Avaline. Once taught a lucario to fistbump. May she rest in peace, bitches.'

The lucario made a noise of sheer delight and nuzzled into her outstretched hand. Avaline laughed out loud. There was a warm feeling in her chest, and she felt like she could float away. "There, you see? Now you'll be the coolest lucario around."

"Oh, so this is where you ran off to," a strange voice said. Avaline turned to see that it was a pale, well built woman with long blonde hair, wearing roller skates and a white outfit. There was another lucario at her side, who gave Avaline's lucario a long stare. She _must_ be her lucario's trainer.

Avaline took her hand away from the lucario, crossing her arms. She resisted the urge not to scowl. Her lucario - no, not _her_ lucario, she was being silly. The _friendly_ lucario slunk away with its ears drooping.

"Aw, come on, you're not in trouble." The other trainer rubbed the lucario's ears in a fond way. Avaline felt strangely jealous of the way she was allowed to give it such casual affection. "I'm Korrina, by the way." It took a moment for Avaline realise that Korrina was talking to her. "What's your name?"

"Avaline," she said, trying not to sound too short. It was hardly this trainer's fault she'd gotten a little attached to someone else's lucario.

"That's a cute name," Korrina said. "This is Ariel. He's normally really shy of strangers. He must have sensed something about you that he really liked! I hope you didn't mind that he came to say hello."

Avaline looked at the lucario again. _Ariel._ She felt like a deflated balloon, but seeing Ariel tilt his head and blink at her, she still gave a weak smile. "No, I don't mind."

"You're a trainer, right?" Korrina said thoughtfully, sizing her up. "Hmm... maybe he's excited to have a battle with you someday."

Avaline wasn't quite sure what to say to that. She couldn't imagine fighting Ariel - it would be like fighting _Senshi_. "Uh, well, maybe I'll see you again sometime."

Korrina winked at her. "Oh, I'm sure you will. I'd love to stay and chat, but I have to meet someone in Lumiose City... see you later!"

She began to skate away, her lucarios following her. Avaline's heart seemed to sink with each step.

Suddenly, Ariel stopped and ran back to her. He held out his arm with a little questioning growl.

They tapped fists.

"See you later," Avaline whispered.

Ariel let out a happy noise approaching something like a bark and ran back to catch up with Korrina.

It was so strange to feel so strongly about a pokemon she'd only just met, but she still couldn't help watch Ariel until he'd disappeared. Only then did she manage to make herself move again.

 

The bittersweet meeting with Ariel continued to distract her. Avaline found herself losing her train of thought and staring off into space. Then she would come back to herself with a jolt. Calem and Shauna would be waiting for her in Camphrier Town by now. She shouldn't dawdle so much.

The thought of spending the whole walk to Camphrier by herself seemed suddenly oppressive. Avaline's first idea was to call Marie out while she walked - but then she remembered that Marie wasn't with them anymore. Her hand lingered over the pokeballs at her belt. Queenie was good to talk to, but Avaline wanted companionship. Senshi would just worry about her and make her feel worse. She wasn't even sure if the charmander _liked_ her yet.

Which left Sunny.

Of course, the first thing Sunny did after coming out of his pokeball was yawn. Avaline giggled and felt herself relax a little.

Sunny seemed to sense her mood, because he sniffed at her, puffing up his fur slightly.

"Don't worry," Avaline said. "I just made a friend, and had to say goodbye."

He growled - she wasn't quite sure why - but he walked a little closer to her than normal, getting her black socks covered in zigzagoon fur. She found that she didn't really mind.

Eventually, they arrived in Camphrier Town. It was dominated by a grand mansion set on a small hill, overlooking the town, but, looking closer, Avaline could see that it was badly in need of repair. Several of the windows had been boarded up and scaffolding seemed to be propping up the entire east wing. Avaline had gotten used to seeing beautiful old buildings in Kalos looking no more than nicely aged. The region as a whole seemed to take a great pride in their history. She wondered what had happened which meant this old manor couldn't be taken care of in the same way. A lack of money? But Camphrier Town should be full to bursting with tourists coming to see Parfum Palace, which was barely a twenty minute walk away.

Sunny gently bit her foot, just hard enough to sting.

"Yeah, yeah," she mumbled. "Boring trainer. I know _._ "

Avaline looked at the old mansion again. It wasn't really her problem, she supposed. She led Sunny towards the Pokemon Centre, where she found her friends waiting.

"We've been waiting for _aages!"_ Shauna said, pouting at her. "I was beginning to worry you'd gotten lost somehow."

Calem said nothing, but he pulled a pokemon treat out of his pocket and offered it to Sunny. After eating it, Sunny attempted to stick his head in Calem's pocket to look for more.

"Sorry," Avaline said. She almost mentioned Ariel and how weird it made her feel, but she lost her nerve at the last moment. It sounded silly when she couldn't think of how to describe the sense of _warmth_ she'd felt with Ariel. "Do you guys want to get lunch? I think Sunny wants to eat."

Sunny's nose was now stuck in the bag of pokemon treats. He shook his head from side to side and tried to force it off with his paw.

"Whatever gave you that idea," Calem said dryly.

For lack of other options, they ended up eating at the Centre. Sunny sniffed at his dinner, looking hopefully in Calem's direction. When Calem merely raised an eyebrow, Sunny seemed to resign himself to the boring food. He still managed to polish off two full bowls of the stuff, then curled up under Shauna's chair and took a nap. Avaline returned him to his pokeball, shaking her head.

"He's going to get fat if he doesn't exercise more," she said. She hadn't had the heart to stop him, though, after he was so good about keeping her company. Definitely no more chocolate cake for a while, however. "So, what's the plan? There's still plenty of daylight left."

"The town's in a bit of a pickle at the moment," Calem said. "A snorlax has come down from the mountains and it's blocking the bridge out of town. The local lord used to own a pokeflute, but he's badly in debt to the guy who owns the Parfum Palace, who requisitioned it a few months back."

"I offered to go ask the guy at the palace if they could borrow it, since we were going that way anyway," Shauna added. "Although... they didn't seem to think he was likely to give it back."

"Well, Professor Sycamore said that he didn't really like to share," Avaline said. "I guess we'll just have to try our best, anyway."

Calem nodded. "Maybe he can be persuaded. In the meantime, I offered to help the trainers here to see if we can shift it ourselves. Hopefully we won't need the pokeflute at all, but snorlax have been known not to wake for anything short of a mortal injury." He grimaced. "And since they tend not to want to be captured either, we definitely don't want it wandering back up to the mountains with anything serious."

Avaline nodded. With the plan agreed, off they went to Parfum Palace. Shauna seemed unusually quiet for some reason.

"I don't get it," she said eventually. "When me and Calem talked to the Lord of Camphrier Town, Batiste, he said he got into debt trying to help out all the townsfolk... if this guy at Parfum Palace is so wealthy, why doesn't he just help them out himself? Or at least cancel his debt?"

"I don't know," Avaline said. "Some people are just selfish."

"But that's really sad. And ridiculous! There would be plenty for everyone if we could all just share! Jeez, I learnt that in nursery."

Shauna's indignant expression made Avaline smile. "Well, that just means the rest of us have to work harder to make the world a better place for everyone."

"You're right!" Shauna looked incredibly determined all of a sudden, as though she planned to fix the world's problems then and there. After a moment, she relaxed. "But first, maybe we can try to talk some sense into this guy."

"Let's hope so," Avaline said. She wasn't feeling quite as optimistic, but it was worth a try.

 

When they got to Parfum Palace they had to pay a 1000 franc entry fee per person. How ridiculous! Avaline was fuming - that was the cost of five pokeballs! She understood that old buildings and so on would need some upkeep, but the owner of a _palace_ couldn't be lacking for money. They then had to pester the steward to speak to the owner about his art collection (and the pokeflute, but they'd agreed to let that one slide until they actually met him), reducing Avaline to waving the note from Professor Sycamore in the steward's face until he would actually read it, and when they _finally_ met the owner, he was running around in a panic because his "precious furfrou" had gone missing.

The guy didn't even seem to see them at first. "This is the third time this week! She must be stressed! We'll have to have another seaside vacation - no, a cruise!"

The steward cleared his throat. "Sir, these girls have a note from Professor Sycamore. They wish to look at some of the paintings in your collection…"

"Paintings!" the owner exclaimed. "Jacques, I haven't got time to be worrying about paintings! What about poor Miledy?"

"Shall I send them away, sir?"

Avaline gave Jacques a hard stare. Not after they'd come all this way!

"Ye…" The owner did a double take upon actually noticing them. The next thing Avaline knew, he was on his knees, gripping Shauna's hands tightly. "You want to see my paintings, don't you? If you can find my furfrou, you can see all the paintings you want!"

Shauna looked at Avaline with wide eyes, mouthing 'help me'.

"She simply loves the gardens, but she always get lost!" He sniffed dramatically. "My poor Miledy… she must be so frightened."

"We'll find your furfrou," Avaline said, resigned. She managed to free Shauna from the owner's grip.

"You will? Oh, thank you! There's not just the paintings, you know, we could, we could have a… a banquet! Or-"

Avaline and Shauna fled before he could promise them the moon.

 

Really, Avaline reflected, she should have been more cautious when she heard garden _s._ The grounds of the palace were absolutely enormous. In fact, the palace was a star attraction almost as much because of its beautiful gardens as because of the historical palace, the steward informed them helpfully. He also generously agreed to 'waive the normal entry fee'.

"How did we get roped into this?" Shauna muttered, letting out a huge sigh. "Not that I can blame the poor furfrou though. If I had an owner like _that_ , I'd run away all the time!"

They let out some of their pokemon to help with the search, but it still took them over an hour to find the damn furfrou, and then another ten minutes to corner it in some sort of maze. Luckily, Shauna's puzzle expertise came in handy and getting out was much easier than finding their way in. Still, they were hot, dirty, and extremely aggravated by the time they made it back to the palace.

"Maybe we should just ask for the pokeflute and go," Avaline muttered, flexing her hands to try to get some feeling back into them. The furfrou was _heavy._

"I second that," Shauna said. "The paintings can't be that important, can they?"

They found the owner pacing in an antechamber near the exit to the gardens. Unsurprisingly, he was just as effusive with his gratitude. "Of course, you may see whatever paintings you desire! Any time! And I'll refund your entrance fees. In fact, free lifetime entry! Oh, and you must see our fireworks display! I'll-"

Avaline felt a headache coming on. "Just… just the pokeflute, please."

"Pokeflute?" the man said. "But… that's mine!"

"There's a snorlax on route 7. It's probably stopping some tourists getting to your palace, too," she said stiffly.

"Can't Batiste deal with it?" he said plaintively.

Honestly, it was obvious the man cared about his furfrou, so why was it so hard to care about his fellow human beings? Avaline opened her mouth to give him a piece of her mind, but that was when she noticed the furfrou was missing. A sense of dread crept over her. _Please, not again…_

She breathed a sigh of relief when the furfrou appeared again a few moments later. It was carrying something in its mouth… wait, was that-?

The furfrou dropped her pokeflute at Shauna's feet and wagged its tail.

"Aw, thanks!" Shauna reached down to scratch the furfrou's ears.

"Now, wait a minute…" the owner started to say, before he was interrupted by a bark from his furfrou. "Well, alright," he said, instantly capitulating at the sight of the furfrou's wide eyes. The furfrou's tail wagged faster. "But you must return it as soon as you're done!"

This time, the furfrou growled at him.

Avaline raised an eyebrow at Shauna and motioned towards the exit. They made their escape while the two were still arguing.

"Well, at least the furfrou was nice," Shauna said.

They got a much friendlier reception from the folks of Camphrier Town. There was a loud cheer when Shauna held the pokeflute aloft and it was quickly passed around until it reached the hands of Lord Batiste. He looked to the trainers who were placed between the snorlax and the crowd. Calem was among them, with a meowstic that Avaline didn't recognise.

The trainers gave Batiste the go ahead, and he put the flute to his lips and began to play.

He was obviously talented. He faltered at first, but as his confidence grew, the music grew louder. Avaline felt it almost like a physical force. Suddenly the meeting with Ariel didn't seem to make her so sad. She still had all her other pokemon friends, and she shouldn't let a brief meeting distract her from that. Besides, she felt sure that they would cross paths again.

The snorlax began to stir to life, and when it was finally awake, the song ended. The pokemon arranged around it started to move - not to attack, but to make a show of force to deter the snorlax from coming any closer. It made a half hearted swipe at Calem's meowstic, who dodged it. Then it seemed to decide that the whole thing was just too much bother, and began its long trek back into the mountains.

When it had finally passed out of sight, there was a collective sigh of relief. The silence was broken by somebody clapping, and Avaline turned around only to realise, astonished, that the owner of Parfum Palace and his furfrou had come to watch.

There was some shuffling in the crowd and Batiste hastily presented himself before the Parfum Palace owner. "Charles, what can I help you with?"

To Avaline it seemed a very ordinary name for someone who owned such a grand palace. Charles coughed. The crowd began to mutter. "Well, I came down to hear you play, and my darling furfrou was delighted, so I have decided that you should keep the pokeflute. But do be sure to practise! And you must come play for us sometime."

"Y-Yes, of course," Batiste said, to more muttering in the crowd, sounding a little more angry this time.

Charles made as if to leave. His furfrou let out a choking sort of sound, and he turned back. "Oh, and I've decided to cancel your debt to me. But you must fix up that manor of yours, it's looking simply ghastly!"

Dead silence fell. Shauna's eyebrows shot practically into her hairline. And then a great amount of cheering erupted. Batiste looked as though he were about to faint as he was patted on the back and congratulated and somebody even started to cheer for the Parfum Palace guy.

Avaline, still totally surprised, was watching Charles. She thought she might have been one of the few who saw him look down at his furfrou, and burst into a dazzling smile when it wagged its tail and yapped happily at him.

 

Shauna and Avaline felt obliged to go back to Parfum Palace, with Calem it tow. As they entered, they overheard a tourist being quoted a price of 300 francs. Maybe 'Charles' really was turning over a new leaf...?

In a complete contrast to yesterday, the furfrou was perfectly behaved and looked content at Charles' side. Avaline got the feeling that yesterday was part of a very long campaign on its part. _I guess pokemon have their own opinions on how people should behave, too_.

"After yesterday I got in contact with Professor Sycamore," Charles announced. He might be doing his best to be a better person now, but he still sounded quite pompous. "I'm afraid we've only one piece in our collection which might interest you..."

But what a painting it was.

It was huge, running nearly floor to ceiling and was about as wide as Avaline was tall. It depicted a man in handsome, elaborate armour wearing an ornate crown, who must be one of the former kings of Kalos. He seemed to be in the middle of a battle, but there were no other trainers or pokemon there to challenge him, only a shadowy presence just "off-frame" which seemed to swallow up the sunlight.

At his feet stood a white haired pokemon that Avaline had never seen before. It had huge ears with curls of pale yellow fur underneath, and its white fur seemed almost to form a waistcoat. There was even an extremely fluffy tuft of fur at its neck where a bow tie would have gone. Its eyes were closed in concentration and it seemed to glow with an extraordinary light.

For several moments none of them could speak. It must have been painted by an extraordinary artist, because more details kept popping out to Avaline: the king's white-knuckle grip on his sword, the vague, menacing shape that could be seen as darker patches of shadow, the glass-like stone clutched in the strange pokemon's hand...

"Look there!" Avaline said, pointing to it and breaking the silence. "That must be the mega stone."

"Oh, I see it," Shauna said, peering so close that Avaline (and by the constipated look on his face, Charles) thought she was going to poke the painting with her nose. "Wow... it looks beautiful. But what pokemon is this? I don't recognise it."

It was Calem who spoke. "I... I think it's an audino."

Avaline peered at the painting again. Audino normally had pink fur, not white, and the shape of the ears and everything was wrong... but, there was something about its body shape which reminded her of an audino. Still, it would never have occurred to her if Calem hadn't said it.

"I remember that audino are not originally native to Kalos," Calem said. "They have been here for thousands of years now, but they were originally introduced by the kings of Kalos, who kept them as loyal guards and who treasured them for their healing powers."

"Yes, that's correct," Charles said. "In fact, we still have a small colony that live on the palace grounds."

Shauna wanted to know more about the palace's audino. Avaline tried to listen out of politeness, but the painting kept distracting her. The dark shadows seemed so ominous and so _real_ , it was enough to make her shiver with fright.

 _Where's the king's stone?_ Avaline wondered. If Frederic DuBois was correct, he should have a 'key stone' on his person somewhere. She stared hard at the painting, searching for any sign of anything similar to the audino's stone. Then she realised the answer was staring her right in the face. Set in the crown was a clear, spherical stone, much smaller than the audino's mega stone. It could've almost passed for glass, except for the twist of colour running through the centre.

"Do you still have this crown?" she asked, belatedly realised she'd just interrupted the ongoing conversation.

"We do, although it's on loan to a museum in Unova at the moment." Charles stood a little straighter, but then slumped again when none of them seemed impressed. He peered at where Avaline was pointing. "That stone is no longer part of it, though, it was replaced by a diamond some time ago."

Disappointed, Avaline looked again at the dark mass of shadow in the top corner of the painting.

_I wonder... what were you fighting?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Current team:  
> Frogadier (M) - Senshi  
> Zigzagoon (M) - Sunny  
> Kakuna (F) - Queenie  
> Charmander (M)


	8. Ideology

They stayed in Camphrier Town only a little longer. There seemed to be a new era of good relations between the townsfolk and Parfum Palace being ushered in before their very eyes; Charles invited the whole town, including Avaline, Calem, and Shauna, to a huge fireworks display. It was a grand show and she was truly happy for the townsfolk, but Avaline spent most of those few days in a daze, still thinking about that painting and everything it represented. She'd asked if they had any writings about it, but the painting was seven hundred years old and if anything had ever been written about it, it was now lost.

Avaline tried to at least get all her thoughts in order. She felt very strongly that that shadowy presence was important. Otherwise, it seemed such a strange focus for a painting; if it was just meant to depict the king's powerful pokemon, why not show him battling against something grand and frightening, like a gyarados? Or he and his audino leading their troops into battle? It wasn't a depiction of a glorious victory, nor of the king's bravery or honour. The king had looked frightened, desperate, and his audino terribly small and insignificant next to the great shadowy enemy. It was not merely a painting; it was a message - a warning.

But a warning against what? Avaline didn't know.

She felt like she desperately needed to know more about Kalos' history and mythology, but maybe Calem and Shauna didn't feel the same sense of urgency that she did about the painting, because they just shrugged and said nothing came to mind.

Instead, she bit the bullet and bought a huge volume of the history of the kings of Kalos. It would be something to study in her spare time, even if it was pretty heavy. Most of the time she stayed inside and read, wishing she'd paid more attention to her mother's Kalosian bedtime stories. Shauna _did_ manage to drag her out to the fireworks, saying that it 'wouldn't be worth going without Ava'. Avaline was glad in the end - Queenie seemed to enjoy it too.

 

The journey to Ambrette Town wasn't supposed to be very long, but they decided to get an early start anyway. Rivière Walk was positively _full_ of distractions. Firstly, there was the pokemon daycare, which encouraged people to come play with baby pokemon to help socialise them. Who could pass up the opportunity to play with baby pokemon, guilt free? Then there was the Battle Chateau, an exclusive club for Kalos' top trainers. They wouldn't be able to participate, but the Battle Chateau was also set in a historic building and allowed some tours to go round a few times a day.

Last of all - highest on Avaline's list, even above the baby pokemon petting - was the sheer number of pokemon that could be caught on that route and in Connecting Cave at the end of it. They would be taking the long route around the coast via Ambrette Town, but the cave still might be worth a look in order to add to her pokedex, which Avaline felt she had been neglecting somewhat since Santalune City.

There were also bound to be lots of trainers on the route, and Avaline was starting to run low on cash again.

Early in the day the route was fairly deserted, so Avaline, Calem, and Shauna decided to let some of their pokemon out to run around. Calem's new espurr, Barbour, was quite timid and preferred to sit on Calem's shoulder than run about. Shauna's pikachu seemed very excited to be outside and kept running off to explore new scents before running back to say something to Shauna. Tulip the bulbasaur kept a more sedate pace.

Avaline felt quite content with Sunny trailing slightly behind her and Queenie in her arms. She'd also released her new charmander, realising guiltily that they hadn't spent that much time together so far, but he seemed to be more interested in going off and doing other things.

She realised that Sunny had stopped a few metres behind her and was staring into the flower bushes with his tail completely fluffed out and rigid. He sniffed the air.

"Sunny? What's wrong?"

He barked and darted into the grass.

"I think Sunny's found something!" she called to Calem and Shauna before following after her zigzagoon.

She walked cautiously into the long grass, trying not to disturb any pokemon who might still be asleep. Sunny's trail was pretty easy to follow even though he was completely concealed by the tall grass. She didn't have to go far before she found Sunny, flattening a little clear circle into the grass with his pacing. Avaline crouched, parted the bushes, and found a pokemon egg.

 _Wait, did we destroy a nest? What if the parents abandon the egg or…_ Then Avaline realised that there was something different about the egg. Sunny nuzzled at it before growling at her sternly.

"I know," she mumbled. After a moment of thought, she put Queenie down and picked it up.

"What is it?" Shauna asked. "Oh! A pokemon egg!"

"But I'm pretty sure it's a ghost type pokemon's egg," Avaline said, turning it over in her hands. It felt slightly cool to the touch, which made her feel a little anxious about the pokemon inside, even though she knew that was normal for ghost types. "They're definitely not native to this area..."

"It must've come from a pokemon at the daycare," Calem said. "Ghost type pokemon are probably difficult to contain. We should return it."

Avaline handed the egg to Shauna and picked up Queenie again, unable to conceal a shiver. Ghost pokemon were just a bit creepy. "Yeah, we're not far away now."

Shauna seemed mesmerised by the egg. "I wonder what kind of pokemon it will be."

Avaline smiled at Sunny, who had taken the opportunity to flop down in the grass now that the crisis was averted. "Good job," she said, rubbing his ears. Even if she thought ghost types were creepy, it was nice to know the egg would be safe. "Who knows what would've happened if it had been left out here on its own?"

Sunny let out a soft huff of agreement.

 

 

On the way to the day care centre, though, it was Avaline who spotted something hidden - well, almost hidden. Fluffy pink fur, a large pointed nose... it was a spritzee! And they were so rare nowadays, since they'd fallen out of fashion with the nobility. And they were _adorable_.

Even though she felt Calem and Shauna were kind of disapproving, she begged them to let her stay behind to catch it. She might never see another one! Spritzee were so small and had grown very timid around humans (supposedly, after spritzee had fallen out of fashion with the nobility and had been abandoned in droves, the tale had been passed down through generations as a warning), so they rarely got curious enough to go near trainers, never mind to want to be caught by one.

Avaline must have found the bravest spritzee in the world, because the little thing seemed positively delighted to have been spotted. It also must have had quite high standards; it was quite difficult to catch.

The best thing of all was that when she turned to pick up Queenie, she found her kakuna shell empty and instead a handsome beedrill was perched on a nearby rock, drying its wings in the sunshine. Avaline was so overjoyed that she had to give Queenie a hug despite the giant poisonous spikes. Then of course she had to wait several minutes for Queenie's brand new wings to dry out and harden in the sun.

Avaline felt a little guilty about trailing behind Calem and Shauna again, but... now she had a spritzee! She recalled everyone and took off at a run to catch up. There was still the problem of how exactly she was going to afford all these pokemon, except by crossing her fingers and hoping to run into a bunch of trainers with more money than sense.

She burst into the daycare a little too forcefully, accidentally slamming the door into the wall. Calem gave her a look which somehow conveyed a sigh of dismay that he didn't actually make. Shauna just facepalmed. Avaline found that she didn't care that much right at that moment, because she was bent over trying to catch her breath back.

"Hey, you're the one with the zigzagoon that found this egg, right?" a strange voice said cheerfully. Avaline assumed it must belong to one of the workers at the daycare and just gave them a thumbs up without looking at them.

After a minute or two she finally felt like she'd gotten her breath back. Phew. At least this journey was going to get her fit.

Straightening, she blinked in surprise at finding a strange woman in green dungarees and a white shirt smiling at her politely... about a foot from Avaline's face. Calem and Shauna were nowhere to be see. They'd probably gone to pet baby pokemon, the traitors.

"Er, hello?" she said.

"Hi!" said the strange woman. Avaline recognised her voice as being the one who'd asked about Sunny. "My name's Matilda and I run the daycare. First, I wanted to thank you for returning that egg to us. We actually end up losing quite a lot each year, because a pokemon's natural instinct is generally to hide their eggs and they often escape our grounds to do so. Obviously we make every effort to find them, but..."

"I understand," Avaline said, wondering how this was relevant. "It must be difficult."

"And on that topic," Matilda said. "I was wondering if you might consider leaving your zigzagoon with us."

It was a perfectly sensible request and honestly would solve some of Avaline's problems with money, but she froze up anyway.

"We do have a few of our own already, of course," Matilda continued, perhaps sensing some of her reluctance. "But it's actually quite difficult for us to get hold of wild zigzagoon, and zigzagoon raised with humans tend not to be nearly as good at picking up things like that. Surprisingly, we're not generally eligible for trainer-donated ones because we breed our own pokemon, and zigzagoon are in quite high demand in a lot of other fields."

Avaline nodded mutely. "Well, um, I just caught another pokemon, so I'd been worrying about food costs and..." She really didn't need to explain her whole life story to the daycare lady. "Uh, I mean to say, I guess I don't object if Sunny doesn't mind."

She was half happy, half disappointed to see that Sunny seemed quite taken with the idea. His ears perked up and he tilted his head to the side as though he was giving it some serious consideration. Then he yipped in assent.

"That's great news!" Matilda said. She looked up and must have noticed Avaline's grimace. Tactfully, she announced she was off to get some papers and left them alone.

Avaline knelt down by Sunny and began to rub his ear. He rumbled contentedly and collapsed in a heap next to her. Despite her mixed emotions, she laughed. "I'm not really surprised," she mumbled. "I think sticking out the whole journey would have been _way_ too much effort for you. And I can't afford to buy to chocolate cake every time there's an important battle!"

Sunny grumbled a little and nuzzled at her knee.

"I know, I'll miss you too." There was a lump in her throat and tears in her eyes, but for some reason she felt better. This was good, really! Now Sunny and Marie could be doing things that suited them better! "And I can come visit sometimes."

"Of course you can!" Matilda said from behind her. Avaline jumped and rapidly blinked to clear the tears from her eyes. "We'd love to have you visit, any time!"

Avaline stood, nodding, and looked down at Sunny again. He looked back with imploring eyes.

"He likes chocolate cake," she blurted out suddenly.

"Oh he does, does he?" Matilda said. Sunny was now looking imploringly at _her_. "Well, you'll have to work for it."

Sunny's head drooped in disappointment.

 

 

After that, Avaline didn't much feel like spending time with the baby pokemon, or too much time at the daycare at all, in fact. She'd grown used to Sunny's laid back approach to... well, to pretty much everything except food.

To try and take her mind off things, she went out onto the route to catch some more pokemon. She eventually ran out of pokeballs and most of her new catches went straight to the PC storage system - she'd have to remember to mark them for donation next time she was at a pokemon centre, as well as actually analyse them with the pokedex. She still hadn't seen any sign of Calem and Shauna, so she sent them both a message to say she'd gone on ahead.

Avaline decided to keep everyone else in their pokeballs for the time being and just let out her new charmander. Trying to get him to warm up to her a little (no pun intended) would be a productive distraction.

At first he ignored her completely, although he never ran far enough away to be totally out of sight. Maybe being the only one taking up her attention had softened him up a bit.

Really, the big change came when they started to run into trainers. He insisted that he be the only one to take them on. As a result, Avaline lost several battles that she probably could have won and only just came out ahead on money - without taking into account the potions she used healing her charmander up afterwards. Still, it was worth it for him to finally be willing to walk next to her and even smile at her occasionally. She could work on imparting the 'teamwork' lesson a little later.

Avaline even came up with a name for him, since he seemed so intent on shouldering the whole pressure of winning the battle by himself: Atlas.

 

 

A little further down the road was the Battle Chateau. As Avaline often thought about buildings in Kalos, the pictures of it really didn't do it justice. They couldn't quite capture the scale of the thing - it simply towered over everything else in the area. If she hadn't been to Parfum Palace, it would easily have been the grandest building she'd seen in Kalos so far. Even having seen the palace, which was luxurious to the point of being gaudy, Avaline found she preferred the understated grace of the Battle Chateau. It commanded an impressive presence with its looming towers and gigantic wooden doors, with an intricate pattern carved around the frame.

It was outside of the designated tourist hours, but Avaline didn't really feel like hanging around, so she thought she might as well pop into the lobby to have a quick look inside. Maybe if she promised not to disturb anyone, they'd be willing to let her have a small look around by herself? If not... well, she lived here now. She could come back another time.

Avaline didn't even get the chance to ask about the tour - as soon as she walked in, she was surprised to see a familiar face amongst the people in the lobby.

Viola must have also recognised her, because she quickly ditched her conversation with a regal looking middle-aged gentleman and came over to see her. "Hi, Avaline! Fancy seeing you again. Though I'm not surprised to see a talented trainer like you here..."

"I'm not actually a member-" Avaline started to explain awkwardly, but Viola cut her off.

"You're not? Well, that won't do. Come on, I'll vouch for you. Even a future Champion needs to practice!"

 _That old chestnaught,_ Avaline thought (a saying she'd picked up from Calem and rather liked), but she couldn't stammer out any coherent reply before Viola had her in front of a very official-looking woman, demanding that she be instated at the lowest rank of the nobility immediately.

"Well, it is highly unusual to admit such a new trainer into our ranks," the woman said, in an extremely cultured tone. "However, with your recommendation, I'm sure we can accommodate your request, Marchioness Viola."

Viola seemed pleased. "You'll just love the battles here, I absolutely know it. I'd love to stay and see your debut, but I have to meet my sister in Lumiose City! Have fun!"

Avaline had never felt more like a fish out of water than when she saw that grand oaken door close behind Leader Viola.

The woman took her through the rules and regulations governing the Battle Chateau. To Avaline's surprise, the noble titles were _actually real._

"Wait," she said, "you mean I could go out and introduce myself as Baroness Avaline anywhere and that would be totally legit?"

"Well, it would be considered rather crass to announce oneself to everyone as a mere Baroness," the woman said, "but yes, one could certainly do that. If they were totally without class."

She was giving Avaline a rather hard stare. She hastily assured her that it had been purely a hypothetical question.

After Avaline was able to explain the rules back to her, the woman seemed satisfied. She announced the 'new member' over the intercom system, to Avaline's horror, and pushed her out into the hallway. Avaline flinched and the door slammed shut behind her. She really hoped this was not one of those places where people liked to pick on the newbies.

There were a few people giving her strange looks. All of them looked at least ten years older than Avaline, and their clothes were immaculate. She normally felt like she presented herself well, but she was painfully aware of the scuff marks on her shoes and the small tear in the skirt of her dress that she hadn't gotten around to mending yet.

 _Am I just supposed to go up to someone and ask them to battle? How am I supposed to know if they're the correct 'rank'?_ Why couldn't that lady have told Avaline useful things like that instead of sneering at her for asking a simple question?

"Ah, I thought I recognised the name."

Avaline jumped. "Mr Roi," she said, blinking. He was at least a familiar face, but there was just something so _weird_ about him.

He inclined his head in greeting. Even with his arms folded and leaning against the wall, it was difficult to describe him as casual. "Lysandre is fine. I believe Augustine mentioned that you only moved to Kalos recently. I take it that this is your first time in the Battle Chateau?"

It took Avaline a moment to remember that Augustine was Professor Sycamore's name. "Uh, yes," she answered awkwardly. He was so hard to read, she wasn't sure if he was impressed or surprised, so she added, "Leader Viola recommended me."

Lysandre snorted. "Of course. Viola is one of the few who use the Battle Chateau as it was intended, rather than as a status symbol."

"As it was intended?"

Lysandre nodded. "The Chateau was founded a few hundred years ago by the Master of the Battle Tower. His goal was to use the most powerful trainers to nurture the next generation of talent - in those days, of course, there were no Gyms, so it was difficult to find a suitable apprentice. Trainers would come from all over Kalos to prove themselves worthy and have their talent nurtured by an existing Master." He sighed. "The Gym Leaders seem to have become the inheritors of that particular tradition."

Avaline wondered why he was telling her this. "So, then… what is the point of the Battle Chateau?"

Lysandre's lip curled. "One-upmanship. Earning the prestige of an aristocratic title. Using it as a place to make backdoor deals with little risk of being found out. I am in no doubt about the skill of the trainers here… but what is the point of such talent if they're not using it to uplift their successors and improve the world?"

"You don't look like you're doing that much uplifting, yourself," Avaline said, before wincing. _Why did I say that?_

Lysandre didn't seem to be offended, though. Instead, he looked pained. "...I've recently come to believe there is a limit to what one person can achieve." He shook his head. "But still, becoming a member of the Battle Chateau is a noteworthy event, and this is your debut. I should not keep you with my own troubles. I would be pleased to be able to see what Leader Viola found so impressive about you."

No pressure, then.

Despite his weirdness, Avaline was ultimately grateful for his presence. The Battle Chateau seemed to be governed by meaningless unspoken rules. Lysandre steered her away from challenging one of the few people who seemed close to her in age, who turned out to be a Duke. Challenging such a high-ranking member as a mere Baroness, Lysandre explained, would be seen as making pretences above one's station. He seemed bored by the whole thing. Avaline actually wondered if it was all an elaborate joke, but then she saw a Viscount challenge a Duchess, get snubbed by everyone, and eventually leave on the verge of tears.

"There's little way of knowing who belongs to which rank unless one takes time to memorise the members list," Lysandre said, watching the exchange with a grimace. "Despite those who would wish to believe their _superiority-_ " Here his tone took on a distinctive sneer. "-should be obvious to everyone _._ "

Avaline found the whole atmosphere to be positively alien. No wonder Lysandre was so weird, if these were the kind of people he was expected to mix with all the time. She felt a little less creeped out by him, knowing he was at least sincere about his strange, pointed comments, and not trying to disguise a backhanded compliment in them - like the baron, twice Avaline's age, who said she 'mingled well for someone of her station and origin'. Avaline had been so taken aback, she hadn't been able to say anything.

The baron retreated under Lysandre's pointed stare, which was probably for the best, as Atlas had been trying to 'accidentally' set the man's trousers on fire with the flames on his tail. Atlas was lucky he was so small, or the man surely would've noticed Atlas swishing his tail back and forth and then looking over his shoulder to see if he had connected.

That alone would've been enough for Avaline to vow never to step foot in the place again, if everyone wasn't astonishingly wealthy. No one gave out less than four figures in prize money. After four fights, she'd already earned more from one afternoon in the Battle Chateau than she had from all the other trainer battles today.

As a 'mere' Baroness, she was only allowed to use one pokemon. Her other opponents had been of the same rank as her, so Atlas was able to deal with them without much trouble. The fifth, however, was a Marchioness, who could use _two_ pokemon. Lysandre had picked her out. Avaline glared at him, wondering if he had done it on purpose as some kind of 'test'.

Her first was a pokemon that Avaline was only vaguely familiar with - a pancham. She knew it was a fighting type, but not much else about it. It was the same height as charmander, but carried itself with a kind of cocky self-assurance, even making a 'bring it' gesture to Atlas. Atlas didn't rush in, but he gave Avaline a pleading look which suggested that he really _wanted_ to.

"It's probably physically stronger than you, so let's keep our distance," Avaline said.

Atlas snorted and swished his little tail, but when the pancham charged at him, Atlas hopped away and belched fire at it. The pancham's fur caught, but it stopped and rolled to put the flames out immediately. The pancham's trainer hadn't even given it any directions yet.

Atlas used that time to get distance again, spitting more fire that didn't catch in the same way. The pancham winced with each blow as it got to its feet, but it seemed to be faster than Atlas, so they wouldn't be able to keep up the distance for long. Avaline had to come up with a better plan than 'breathe fire at it', or Atlas would get tired out very quickly - even if he beat the pancham, he wouldn't be in a position to defeat the next pokemon.

After a moment, Avaline had an idea. It was a little risky, but when the odds were stacked against them, it was worth trying…

The pancham approached Atlas again, this time predicting his dodge and grabbing one of Atlas's stubby arms. Atlas let out a cry as the pancham picked him up and _threw_ him to the floor-

"Smokescreen, right in its face!"

Atlas hit the ground, but he managed to belch out a thick blanket of smoke directly in the pancham's face before it could completely disengage. The pancham began to cough, stumbling away and rubbing its eyes, which were watering furiously. Atlas spat another ember at it whilst it was disorientated, but the pancham was already starting to get back on its feet.

"Make another smokescreen!" Avaline called.

Atlas did, although he was still too small to make a large enough smokescreen that would completely obscure both pokemon from view. Some of the onlookers started to cough as well, but Avaline ignored them. Watching pokemon battles, even ones of this level, came with some risks.

The pancham was smart enough to realise that opening its eyes would be unwise, and simply lashed out blindly. Atlas was not as badly affected by the smoke - like most fire types, his eyes produced a special mucus which made them more resistant to smoke damage - so he was able to dodge most of the strikes.

Avaline expected Atlas to continue to spit out little embers at the pancham, but instead Atlas swept the pancham's feet out from under it with his tail. There was a dull thump as it fell flat on its back, making a wheezing noise as the air was knocked out of it.

The pancham's trainer finally interrupted. "Champion, that's enough."

Atlas stepped away, coming back over to stand by Avaline.

"Good job," she said. "The tail sweep was a nice idea. I wouldn't have thought of that."

Atlas growled and thumped his chest. She supposed it was meant to be a tough, warrior-like gesture, but on a pokemon as small as a charmander it simply looked adorable. Avaline bent down to pat his head and Atlas deflated, letting out a sigh.

The Marchioness cleared her throat loudly. She had already released her second pokemon, a kirlia. Frail, but powerful. Avaline frowned. Best just to hit it hard and fast. At this stage of his evolution, Atlas didn't have that much stamina.

The Marchioness seemed to be taking Avaline a little more seriously now, because she called out 'Confusion!' to her kirlia. It twirled and released a burst of psychic energy which, to Avaline, looked only like a heat mirage. Atlas tried to duck under it, but shuddered and let out a small cry.

"Get in close!" Avaline said.

Atlas didn't need telling twice. He rushed in before the kirlia had the time to prepare another attack, scratching the kirlia's face to put it off. It let out a cry and nearly unbalanced, still releasing a wave of psychic energy but in an uncontrolled, directionless way which didn't seem to bother Atlas nearly as much.

He tried the sweep with his tail again, but the kirlia only leapt over it elegantly. Atlas spat another ember in its face, mainly out of anger than actual strategy, Avaline thought. The kirlia was still caught off guard, jerking back and teetering on its spindly legs, so when Atlas did the tail sweep again it toppled over.

"Atlas, quick-" Atlas didn't actually have many physical moves at this stage due to his size, and scratches just weren't going to cut it. "...Jump on it?"

The Marchioness opened her mouth to say something. It quickly turned into a scowl as the kirlia let out a small 'eep' noise as Atlas landed on it.

Avaline sensed she was getting a few stares. _So it's an unorthodox tactic. I'd like to see them do better!_

Avaline wasn't sure if the Marchioness genuinely thought the kirlia had had enough or if she was just slightly fed up of seeing Avaline's face, but she sighed as Atlas scratched the kirlia a few more times and recalled it to its pokeball.

Atlas fell flat on his face at the kirlia unexpectedly disappearing, but quickly got to his feet to spread his arms and roar as some kind of victory celebration. Someone in the crowd actually said 'Aww'. Atlas glared at them.

Avaline was about to return him to his pokeball when he started to glow. _No way… already?_

Sure enough, Atlas began to grow until he was nearly twice his previous height, and bulkier, and Avaline no longer had a charmander at all.

Atlas the charmeleon roared again, and this time, it sounded much more impressive.

A person in the audience started to clap. Then the entire room took it up, until all Avaline could hear was noisy applause and her face was tomato red. Atlas, at least, enjoyed the attention. He marched over to Avaline after a minute of basking in the praise, looking unmistakably smug.

"You did a great job," Avaline said dutifully, although she was worried the applause and his sudden evolution might go to his head a little. Still, it _was_ pretty impressive, and he had a right to be proud of himself.

Atlas made a noise, almost purr-like, in the back of his throat and, to her surprise, nuzzled at Avaline's hand. She laughed and rubbed his head. Atlas opened his mouth and made the purr-like noise again. At least he was being friendly with her now.

After the crowd had started to drift away, Avaline was able to persuade him that it was time to let someone else take a turn. With everything that had happened that day, she hadn't spent any time with her new spritzee yet.

Lysandre was still there. He had watched every one of Avaline's battles so far. He inclined his head. "Very impressive. I'm pleased to see you're making good use of Augustine's gift."

Avaline paused. She didn't remember saying that she had gotten Atlas from the professor.

"I was the one who donated those pokemon to Augustine," Lysandre explained.

"Ah," she said. It did make sense, she supposed. Even for a famous scientist like Professor Sycamore, getting hold of rare pokemon from across the other side of the world would be difficult. But no doubt Lysandre had business connections there, and he certainly had the money to buy them. She wondered why they had been allowed and Appa hadn't. There were some guidelines about what kinds of non-native pokemon could be kept by trainers and which ones couldn't, although it was not clear to Avaline where exactly the line was drawn. Then again, it could be that the authorities simply made exceptions for a person of Lysandre's wealth and importance.

The thought that maybe Appa _could_ have come with her, after all, made Avaline's heart sink. Despite all of that, she was pleased to have Atlas. "Thank you for thinking of us," she managed to say.

Lysandre inclined his head. "Think nothing of it. After all, that is what established trainers should do for their juniors… I wonder if we will have a battle some day." He seemed pensive, which wasn't exactly out of character for him, but still made Avaline unsure of what to say. He seemed to do everything with such deliberation, it made him come off as unnatural and stilted.

"Thanks for your help," Avaline said anyway.

Lysandre gave her a thin smile. "As I said, it is only what I should do. Regardless of how corrupted this place has become from its original purpose, I hope it will prove useful to your development." He reached into his pocket and withdrew a business card, which he handed to her. Avaline raised her eyebrows. It used the style of numbering unique to the holocaster, which meant it must be his personal number and not just an extension at his office. "Call me if you run into any problems."

"Um… sure," Avaline said. She wasn't quite proud enough to turn down such a useful contact, but all the same, she wasn't eager to see him again. She had a sudden urge to ask if he could get her a licence to bring Appa to Kalos, but she didn't have the nerve to outright accuse him of using his position to bend the rules _and_ ask him to do it again, all in the same breath. Besides, from Mariko's emails, it seemed as though Appa had settled into her family; he'd made friends with the family's persian, and had grown especially protective of Mariko's little brother, who was just learning to walk. It wouldn't be fair to uproot Appa now and make him say goodbye to _another_ family.

Lysandre left after giving her a perfunctory goodbye.

Avaline had only met Lysandre twice, but she felt she had a good enough grasp of his character to guess this was unusual behaviour for him.

Since Atlas had evolved after his last battle, she thought she should spend some time with her new spritzee. She wasn't as resilient as even charmander Atlas had been, and was nearly as enthusiastic, throwing herself into every battle regardless of how fearsome her opponent was. Avaline expected a spritzee to attract more attention, but most of the gossip she caught snatches of was about herself. Someone described her as "Lysandre's protégé".

Avaline pulled a face. _No thanks._

Despite her enthusiasm, she thought the new spritzee would eventually become disheartened if she kept losing battles, and Avaline realised she'd spent hours in the Battle Chateau already. Shauna and Calem would be wondering where she was. Maybe if she left, they'd have forgotten about her by the time she next decided to come to the Chateau.

Just as she was leaving, the woman from before stopped her. "Pardon me," she said. "I am to inform you that due to your performance in the Chateau today, your rank has been increased to that of Viscountess. Congratulations."

Avaline blinked at her, wondering if she had confused her with someone else. "But I only joined today."

"Be that as it may, a recommendation from the Grand Duke carries a lot of weight."

The Grand Duke? Ugh, that must be Lysandre's title. She felt the urge to call him and scream 'stop helping me!' into the receiver.

The woman was still looking at her expectantly. "Uh, thanks for letting me know?"

She gave Avaline a stiff bow. "We hope to see you battle here again soon, Viscountess Avaline."

Avaline took the opportunity to flee.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Current team:  
> Frogadier (M) - Senshi  
> Beedrill (F) - Queenie  
> Charmeleon (M) - Atlas  
> Spritzee (F)  
> Volbeat  
> Smeargle


	9. A Flare for the Dramatic

Luckily for Avaline, the Battle Chateau really wasn't that far away from Ambrette Town. Although the cliffside path was awkward, she was able to get there without too much trouble well before evening set in. Calem and Shauna were both astonished to hear about her meeting with Lysandre and that she was now a Viscountess.

"Should I start calling you 'my lady'?" Shauna asked.

Calem laughed, so Avaline thought she was probably joking. "My parents are both Viscounts, too," he said. "Mum's rank has dropped since she retired from the Gym, of course. Congratulations, Ava."

"And your charmander evolved, too!" Shauna grinned at her. "That's great! We'll make you take us to a really expensive restaurant to celebrate."

Avaline pulled a face. They didn't seem to quite grasp why she had found the whole thing so bizarre and uncomfortable. Maybe it was a Kalosian thing? She didn't really want to make a big deal of it. "Well, I guess…"

To her relief, Calem and Shauna turned out to only have been joking about going to the most expensive restaurant in town, which would have bankrupted her. (She'd been pretty sure they were joking, but it was still hard for her to detect sarcasm sometimes.) They chose one which allowed pokemon outside of their pokeballs. Queenie seemed excited to be out with Avaline again, because she buzzed around excitedly until she accidentally scared a young kid with her big stingers and came back to Avaline curled up in a little ball. She perked up a bit when the little boy realised how very sorry she was and clumsily patted her head.

Senshi and Atlas, Avaline decided, were really too big to be outside in an enclosed cafe space anymore, so she let out her new - still unnamed - spritzee instead. She attracted a lot of attention from the other customers, most of whom had probably never seen a spritzee in the flesh, never mind one as personable as Avaline's. Poor Queenie began to sulk at seeing everyone in the cafe coo and fuss over the spritzee.

 _Why do I always seem to attract the weird ones?_ Avaline thought ruefully, as she watched Queenie sneak her way into a selfie some tourist was trying to take with the exciting spritzee (who was posing).

At least she didn't have to worry about any personality clashes, because once she realised Queenie was feeling left out, the spritzee insisted that they appear together in all of her photographs.

"She's just like a little celebrity!" Shauna said, giggling.

Hmm... like a celebrity...

Maybe the spritzee would like a name in honour of Diantha? Not that they had met, but given how lovely Diantha had been, Avaline was confident that the spritzee would like her, and she was one of the most famous people in Kalos. What was Diantha's last film again? A historical drama set in one of the old Kalosian territories called Brittany… that had a pleasant ring to it.

Her spritzee seemed delighted with the name, though she also seemed delighted by pretty much everything. Still, she certainly wasn't opposed to it. Queenie shook her massive stingers in approval, so Brittany it was.

 

After lunch, they decided to head to the Fossil Lab. Calem and Shauna had introduced themselves when they arrived in town yesterday (Avaline tried her best to look apologetic), so Professor Sycamore's contact was expecting them. When they got there, though, one of the scientists told them that Dr. Albain had gone down to the dig site in Glittering Cave.

"He did leave these papers for you, though," said one of his female colleagues. "He asked me to make photocopies, but I've been busy all morning. Why don't you go down to the site and see how he's getting on? He said he thought he'd found something that might be of interest to Professor Sycamore. Anyway, I'd bet none of you have ridden a rhyhorn before. It'll be fun to have a go!"

Calem had to very hastily explain why Avaline collapsed in a fit of giggles before she had time to cause offence.

They made their way to Spikes Passage where they found that there was only one rhyhorn at the station.

"Still waiting for the others to come back from taking some other passengers," the supervisor said. "If none of your have ridden a rhyhorn before, we have a safety talk, but know that you ride at your own risk. If you could just sign in here…"

"Can I just go?" Avaline asked, dutifully signing her name on the visitors list and adding her _Out_ time. "I've ridden a rhyhorn plenty of times before."

The man looked up and down at her outfit with a doubtful expression.

"Her mother is Grace the rhyhorn racer," Calem said, possibly noticing Avaline's sour expression. People always doubted her racing credentials if she wore her dress.

Shauna stifled a giggle as the man looked at Avaline again with wide eyes. He coughed awkwardly. "...Why don't you go on ahead, miss."

The rhyhorns were well cared for, though, so he must be good at his job. At least it would be something for her mother to laugh at over the phone later.

 

Glittering Cave was well named. It wasn't just that the strange crystals sparkled, but they actually emitted their own light. According to the ranger outside, Glittering Cave was formed by a river that used to run through the region thousands of years ago, but had since been diverted. Because of that, it was pretty easy to navigate if you stuck to the largest passageway. No one really had an explanation for the glittering rocks, apparently.

Following the ranger's instructions, Avaline eventually found the narrow, low-ceilinged passage opened up into a huge cavern, which had additional man made lamps and was much brighter than the shadowy cave system.

...Which was in this instance a crying shame because it gave her full view of the person in the absolutely _horrendous_ orange suit standing in front of her.

"What are you even _wearing?!_ " she blurted.

"Hmph," the strange man said. "These premises are now under the protection of Team Flare. Please leave until we've finished our investigation!"

Investigation...? What on earth could they be doing? Anyway, they had no right to close the cave off to the rest of the public. Avaline planted herself squarely in front of him and crossed her arms. " _No."_ Before he could reply, she added, "And your fashion sense it what _really_ needs investigating."

"How dare you!"

The Flare threw a pokeball, which burst open to reveal a houndour. Avaline scrambled to find Senshi's pokeball and barely got out of the way in time as the houndour spat embers at her. When Senshi appeared, she simply gestured at the other pokemon, stumbling backwards in shock. She hadn't heard of anyone ordering pokemon to attack a trainer directly since the days of Team Rocket. Because pokemon were so much more powerful than the average human, the penalties for using them to harm another person were severe. Most criminals avoided using pokemon because the risks outweighed the rewards.

This Team Flare turned out not to be that strong. Senshi easily defeated both of his pokemon and the man ran off to the entrance. Avaline followed the old mining cart track deeper into the cavern more cautiously. Compared to the trainers in the Battle Chateau, the fight had been easy, but it frightened Avaline all the same - and not because they actually seemed to believe those suits were _not_ a crime against fashion. It was the thought of them organising to show up here, willing to use violence, without any apparent rhyme or reason. _I mean, this is an archaeological dig, not a gold mine. What could they possibly be interested in?_

Eventually she ran into two more of Team Flare as the passageway narrowed, a man and a woman. The woman smirked at her with her head tilted to the side, as though studying Avaline. "Aww, did you come fossil hunting too, little girl?" she said.

Avaline rolled her eyes. This didn't seem to be the effect that the Flare woman had been going for and she gripped her pokeball angrily. She braced herself for a battle. Two on one would be tricky, but if she used Senshi, who could strategise independently, then-

"Sorry I'm late, neighbour!" Calem shouted, coming up beside her suddenly. He was panting harshly, but managed to release his espurr - Barbour - at the same time as the Team Flare members released their pokemon. Avaline hastily let Senshi out of his pokeball too.

"Thanks for coming," she murmured to Calem, although between trying to get his breath back and warily waiting for Team Flare to make a move, she wasn't sure if he heard her.

The two Team Flare pokemon were a scraggy and a croagunk. Avaline didn't know much about either pokemon. Wasn't croagunk a poison type? She didn't have any pokemon that resisted poison types and she was pretty sure Calem didn't, either, so it seemed the most threatening. "Senshi, get that one!"

"Wait!" Calem said.

Avaline winced as Senshi staggered under the weight of Barbour's psychic attack. The croagunk shuddered but took advantage of Senshi's distraction, punching him with enough force that he was sent staggering away. Avaline had lost track of the scraggy and it suddenly reappeared, leaping over the croagunk to deliver a powerful blow to Calem's espurr.

"The other one is a dark type," Calem said, tight-lipped.

"Sorry," Avaline whispered. That must be why Barbour had been hit so hard by the scraggy. There wasn't time to dwell on it now. "Senshi, get the yellow one away from Barbour!"

Even injured, Senshi was still the fastest pokemon there. He tackled the scraggy out of the way as Barbour released another wave of psychic energy. The croagunk seemed badly affected but managed to knock Barbour back, and this time the little espurr let out a weak cry and couldn't get up again.

Avaline remembered the Flare member at the entrance who'd attacked her. "Senshi, the croagunk-"

Senshi managed to get in the way of another punch from the croagunk, aimed at Calem. He seemed woozy, but Avaline didn't dare recall him when it would give the croagunk and scraggy an opportunity to attack them.

Calem managed to get out his next pokemon, an absol that Avaline hadn't met before. It took in the situation at a glance and didn't even need Calem to say anything before it pounced on the scraggy that was trying to sneak up on them. Senshi was trying to shoot water at the croagunk, but it was proving quite nimble and was able to dodge a lot of them.

"Angelica, get the croagunk!"

"Senshi, back off, come back for the scraggy!" Avaline added quickly, dragging Calem further away from the fight for good measure.

The absol batted the scraggy out of the way and leapt on the croagunk, biting it. Avaline winced as it let out a cry, but at least it finally seemed out of the fight. Meanwhile, Senshi managed to get the scraggy with a water pulse. It wasn't as quick as the croagunk and couldn't dodge, and when Angelica turned back to fight it as well, it quickly scrambled back towards the Team Flare man rather than fight both of them.

The man's face twisted, but he recalled the scraggy. "Useless pokemon," he muttered.

Angelica growled at him and he jumped.

His partner gave Angelica a nervous look and grabbed his arm. "Come on, let's get out of here."

Avaline didn't let herself relax until they were both out of sight. _That was close._ If they'd had more pokemon and had been able to keep fighting, she would've had to swap Senshi out and then she or Calem could've been seriously injured. She went over to Senshi to see how he was doing. He seemed tired, but not concussed as she had feared. He responded to her with some energy when she asked if he was okay and he seemed able to track her movements just fine. Still, Avaline wanted to get him back to the Centre as soon as possible to be on the safe side. Senshi refused to go back into his pokeball until Calem promised that he and Angelica would look after Avaline.

Calem was grim-faced. "I thought there would be trouble when the ranger said a few Team Flare members had tried to fight past her, but I didn't expect…"

Avaline winced. Maybe the grunt she'd fought at the entrance to the cavern had called for reinforcements? Shauna did say that holocasters could get signal _anywhere._ Avaline hadn't even thought about the ranger at the entrance, or the possibility of more Team Flare arriving.

"It was nothing the ranger couldn't handle," Calem added. "The rhyhorns helped her to fight them off, too. I think Team Flare were hoping they wouldn't be noticed or they would've sent more people. Did they say what they were after?"

Avaline remembered the woman mentioning fossils. "...We should check on Dr. Albain."

 

Luckily, it seemed they had beaten Team Flare to Dr. Albain, because their concern was met with only confusion.

"Oh! You're the kids from Professor Sycamore! How lovely to meet you," he said in a formal tone.

Avaline nodded. Perhaps Calem sensed how pensive she was feeling, because he took control of the conversation.

The Flare woman had said they were here for fossils. For what? To revive the pokemon? To sell them? Reviving the pokemon (if the fossil was in a good enough condition) could give one a powerful addition to their arsenal, but since revived pokemon were so rare, they would also stand out a mile and get caught very quickly. And, well... could fossils really be worth that much money? So much that it was worth dragging a large bunch of your organisation all the way out here, where they would be very recognisable, for high profile bad press? From what Professor Sycamore had said, she understood there were so far only scattered reports of Team Flare being 'nuisances', so you could maybe argue that was just a few bad apples.

But this? This had been organised.

 _I really need to keep up with the news more,_ Avaline thought glumly. Just one other bit of homework to add to the list. _Maybe they were just worse than I thought._

"Have you found any fossils?" she asked abruptly, realising that she was interrupting the conversation and feeling a little too overwhelmed to care.

"Fossils?" Dr. Albain pushed his glasses up his nose considering the question. "Well yes, they do turn up in this area from time to time - I found another one this morning, in fact; the second of the dig. But mainly we've been finding what look like very high-end items which were in use by the precursors to pokemon trainers. We've been speculating that this area used to be a training ground for the nobility, possibly even by the kings themselves. It's very exciting!"

So Team Flare's claim of being after fossils at all seemed a little suspect, to say the least.

"And of course," Albain continued, "there's the strange stones we found. They look like glass, but are made of a much tougher material. I've never seen anything like them, but we found quite a cache. There were four of them, and it's possible we could even discover more!"

Avaline and Calem exchanged glances. He nodded at her significantly.

"Could we see them?" she asked.

"Yes, of course. I left them at the site because we weren't really sure what to do with them, and when I contacted Professor Sycamore, he seemed to think they might be sensitive objects and it would be better not to broadcast their discovery just yet."

Dr. Albain had to dig up a small box before they could look at them - a good place to hide them. Avaline drew in a sharp breath when he opened the lid. She was sure they were mega stones. They looked startlingly beautiful in real life, even compared to the lifelike painting they'd seen at Parfum Palace.

Dr. Albain was looking at them oddly. Avaline told him a little about what they had learned of mega stones, just so he didn't think they were completely crazy. By the end of it, he was nodding along with her. "Oh, I see..." He scratched his head. "I'm afraid this is all a bit out of my league. I tell you what, why don't you take these 'mega stones' with you? I don't think they will have much use to us beyond the significance of them being here in the first place, and even if they do, it seems to me that your investigation is a little more urgent."

"Thank you," Avaline said.

"Oh, and we should exchange numbers," Dr. Albain said. "If we find any more, I'll let you know."

She nodded, hesitating before adding, "If you could, would it be alright it to ask for some information about the rest of your dig. I mean, I understand that you probably won't be able to make any definitive theories or anything, but it might help if we have some idea of the context of why they were here."

"Yes - I left something with Alexis for you at the lab, as well. I think that covers most of what we know so far. And thank you for sharing what you know about mega evolution! It might not seem like much but it could actually help to shed a whole new light on our finds here. Us researchers have to stick together, eh?" He winked at them.

Even though it _was_ a joke, Avaline felt pleased beyond words to be even remotely considered in the same category as a proper researcher, an archaeologist. _I mean, he has a PhD! I can barely even work the pokedex sometimes!_

As Dr. Albain handed the stones over, Avaline grabbed one that was almost warm to the touch and nearly dropped it. But when she reached out for it again she found herself mesmerised by the sliver of reddish-orange which ran through the centre.

Strangely, the others didn't seem to have the warmth of this one. Avaline frowned to herself. She hadn't put much stock in what Frederic DuBois had written about _the immortal soul,_ but now she thought... maybe there was an element of truth to that? Something about this mega stone, in particular, seemed to react with her in a way which the others didn't. It was very strange; definitely something she would need to investigate.

Calem himself seemed to be drawn to one particular mega stone, too. He looked down at Angelica with a thoughtful expression. His mega stone's colours _were_ black and white. "How strange."

Avaline looked at the colours of her mega stone - it already felt like it _belonged_ to her. The reddish-orange was similar to Atlas's colouring. Frederic's diary had said each pokemon species had a unique kind of mega stone.

_I wonder…_

She had a lot to think about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Current team:  
> Frogadier (M) - Senshi  
> Beedrill (F) - Queenie  
> Charmeleon (M) - Atlas  
> Spritzee (F) - Brittany


	10. Doomed to Repeat It

There wasn't much else of interest in Ambrette Town, but they were delayed for a while talking to the rangers and police about Team Flare, giving statements that they could use for their investigation. Avaline realised that there might be some logic to their ridiculous outfits when the only descriptor she and Calem could think of for Team Flare was 'orange'. In particular, the grimace of the officer made her think he'd come up against this problem before.

They didn't seem to take Avaline's idea that Team Flare was interested in mega evolution all that seriously. Calem tried to emphasise that _Professor Sycamore_ thought there might be some substance to the myth, but they seemed to think that was just the professor being eccentric.

"Hmph," Shauna said, folding her arms and scowling. "Everyone seems to think scientists are eccentric weirdos. That's not true!"

"Maybe they've met your dad," Calem said dryly.

"Daddy is just passionate about his work!"

It didn't really help their case.

 

The next day, they headed for Cyllage City. Calem seemed excited at the prospect of challenging another Gym, but Avaline was more distracted by her thoughts on mega evolution. Dr. Albain's notes were interesting, but she couldn't work out how they related to mega evolution. There were some descriptions of the items they'd found on this dig - the ones that were most unusual, according to Dr. Albain, were the chains and whips. The photograph made the chains look strong and heavy, and the whips made all of them cringe. In the days before the invention of pokeballs and the Centre's easy access to healing, training techniques had included some methods which would now be considered cruel, but by and large, people realised that mistreating creatures far stronger than humans would only turn out badly for them in the long run. It was unusual to find items like this at all, according to the notes.

The working theory of Dr. Albain and his colleagues seemed to be that it was a private training ground where the nobility - maybe even the royal family - used to train their strongest pokemon to obey them. It had to be somewhere out of the way, they reasoned, or they would be criticised for resorting to such extreme measures (more because it reflected badly on their abilities as a 'master' than because of concern for the pokemon in question). It also explained the high quality tools and chains that would've been expensive to make in those days; of course royalty would have the resources to afford such things.

It would've made sense to Avaline if it weren't for the mega stones. Everything they had read about them so far emphasised the supposed bond between the trainer and pokemon. Even the most basic tellings of the myth talked about it. It seemed… strange that you would find mega stones, which relied on the friendship between pokemon and human, in a place that resorted to such brutal training methods. Pokemon did get attached to trainers who treated them badly, Avaline knew, but would that be enough? She had offered the orange mega stone to Atlas for inspection, but he had just tapped it with his claws, gotten bored of it, and tried to coax Shauna's pikachu into having a battle with him. If he'd had any similar feelings to Avaline, she was sure there would have been more of a reaction. To her, that implied that the bond had to go both ways, so a trainer just exploiting their pokemon's love for them for their own advantage wouldn't be able to use mega evolution.

So… why would you need to use chains and whips against your beloved pokemon just because it was mega evolved?

It was so frustrating that they didn't have any more information. Maybe Avaline was totally wrong about the trainer needing to have genuine feelings for their pokemon. Maybe she was right but the mega stones were there for totally incidental reasons. She dutifully wrote an email to Professor Sycamore and Dr. Albain about her theories, but couldn't help feeling dissatisfied. If only she had more information!

When they reached Cyllage City, Calem suggested they compete to see who could beat the Gym first. Both of their strongest pokemon - Don and Senshi - had an advantage against the rock-type Gym Leader so it should've been a roughly equal competition. But instead of training as Calem had suggested, Avaline found herself in a bookshop.

She looked through the history and mythology section, growing increasingly disappointed. There were tons of volumes about Kalos's history - two entire shelves dedicated to the Great War alone - but relatively little about the mythology, and even less written about mega evolution. Avaline had picked up a few of the books, but most of them assumed that mega evolution didn't really exist and was some kind of metaphor or misinterpretation, so they weren't that helpful to her.

Avaline was on the verge of giving up entirely and going to train anyway when she spotted a short book about Kalos's legendary pokemon, Yveltal and Xerneas, called _The Two Constants_. It grabbed her attention immediately because, unlike the huge book she'd bought about the kings of Kalos, the author had clearly made some attempt to make it readable for the average person. Then she saw that in the author's introduction, he included a historic description of Yveltal: ' _...it came out of the darkness and brought only oblivion.'_

It made her think immediately of the painting in Parfum Palace. She vaguely recalled that Xerneas and Yveltal were supposed deities representing life and death, and unlike some of the legendary pokemon in Johto, had not yet been proven to exist. It seemed strange to connect them to mega evolution. And yet… Avaline could very well believe the artist of that painting had been trying to depict a god of death. It was only 200 pages…

 _It's for research, so it's fine,_ Avaline decided.

Avaline took the book out with her when she went to train Senshi that evening. She only meant to read the introduction, but she soon found herself absorbed in the history of Kalos, underlining important sections and making notes in the margins. The author argued that Yveltal used to be seen as a more neutral figure, even sometimes benevolent, before the Great War of 3000 years ago. It was a sharp contrast to later mythology, and some of Avaline's half-remembered bedtime stories, where Yveltal was an evil god.

She wasn't sure exactly how it fit into her theory that the shadowy figure in the painting was Yveltal. She couldn't find any mention of mega evolution in the book, even after checking the index. Still, Avaline found the whole thing fascinating. She only realised how distracted she'd been when the light started to fade and she had to squint to make out the words.

Senshi, Queenie, and Brittany looked like they were having fun; Senshi was supposed to be using them for target practise to strengthen his water pulse, but it looked more like a friendly water fight. Not that Avaline was annoyed with them for playing instead when _she_ was supposed to be the one supervising training. She sighed and told everyone they were going somewhere nice for dinner as an apology for getting distracted so badly. Tomorrow she'd leave the book at home.

It went better the next day. Pleased with the results, Avaline promised everyone they could try the Gym tomorrow. They were all delighted, even though Atlas and Queenie would only be fighting as a last resort. Atlas protested this but Avaline refused to budge and Brittany bounced on top of his head until he eventually stopped complaining. He sulked instead.

Avaline was slightly put out when she ate dinner at the Centre with Calem and Shauna, only to find that Calem already had the Gym badge and she now owed him and his pokemon lunch. It probably didn't matter overall, but she was still annoyed at herself for letting Calem win their bet because she got distracted by a book.

 

Cyllage City Gym was even more adventurous than Viola's. "All the Gym trainers are qualified rock-climbing instructors," the receptionist told her with a smile.

Avaline was just glad that she'd decided to wear jeans today.

The Gym trainers weren't too hard to deal with, although Avaline was surprised by the variety of rock types. In Johto, many of them had a secondary ground typing, but Kalos didn't seem so predictable. She'd fought a rock/bug pokemon called dwebble and two rock/psychic pokemon, solrock and lunatone, which she'd heard of before but never actually seen.

Finally, she reached the top of the Gym's rock-climbing tower. Leader Grant helped her out of the harness with a smile. "You made it to the top. Congratulations!"

Avaline made a weak attempt at returning the smile, but her hands hurt and she was sure her knees were going to be covered in bruises from all the times she'd banged them against the wall, which made it difficult to be cheerful. What was she expected to do at the next Gym, white water rafting?

"Kalos hasn't always been a safe and friendly place," Grant said, as though he'd sensed her consternation. "Historically, it's been important for trainers to grow together with their pokemon. That's why I made this Gym into a challenge for the trainers to surmount, too. You pokemon have to be able to rely on you, just as you rely on them."

"Oh," Avaline said. Come to think of it, even though she hadn't said as much, maybe Leader Viola's Gym had been built for that reason, too. Whilst it wasn't exactly dangerous, navigating the maze without falling was something the trainer was supposed to do by themselves. It had never occurred to her that there might be a deeper meaning. She wondered if this is what Lysandre had been referring to when he said it was the Gym Leaders who helped trainers develop their skills these days.

Avaline thought of how badly she'd gotten distracted, and lost time that was supposed to be for her pokemon's development. "You're right - I need to do better."

Grant nodded. "You're only just beginning your journey; you and your pokemon still have a lot of room to grow." He took a pokeball from his belt. "Now, let's see how you handle this challenge."

Avaline took a deep breath and tried not to show how queasy she felt. She doubted if she'd ever get used to fighting Gym battles.

She released Senshi. Grant's pokemon followed a moment later. It was a little taller than Senshi, stood on two feet with tiny forearms tucked under its body, an oversized jaw, and dark brown pebbled skin.

Avaline stared at it. She had absolutely no idea what it was. A rock type, presumably, but it didn't look like any of the rock types she was familiar with.

Senshi glanced back at her, uncertain. Avaline had to do _something._ If she could figure out what type it was, she could build a strategy from there. "Try a water pulse."

"Regina, use dragon dance."

The pokemon let out a surprisingly low-pitched roar and swung its head from side to side in a rhythmic fashion. Senshi's water pulse washed over it, but didn't seem to bother it all that much. _Is it a dragon type?_ Avaline didn't know much about the dragon type at all. They were rare, and she had never met anybody who had one. What was she supposed to do now?

"Bite!" Grant called.

Regina darted forward very suddenly and clamped her enormous jaws around Senshi's arm. Senshi let out a cry, trying desperately to break free. Avaline flinched. "Use water pulse again, try to make it let go!"

Senshi tried but couldn't escape Regina's grip. Now that she was closer, Avaline thought the water pulse did more damage than the pokemon let on - it blinked a little and staggered for a moment, even if its grip didn't loosen.

"Regina, back off for now."

She dutifully let go and backed away. Avaline thought she probably hadn't bitten down as hard as she _could_ have, but the blood coming from Senshi's arm was disturbing all the same.

Dragons, dragons. What did she know about—

Her eyes widened. Of course, the fairy type. Brittany!

"Senshi, come back."

But Senshi shook his head, balancing on the tips of his webbed feet and hands. She saw how badly he winced when he moved his arm.

 _Senshi…_ This was probably her fault. She'd explained her tactics for the Gym, that Senshi would be the main fighter. But she hadn't accounted for the wider variety of rock type pokemon in Kalos. "Trust me, please. I know what I'm doing."

He looked back at her, hesitating.

Avaline made an encouraging gesture. "I won't let anyone get hurt badly," she said, hoping she could keep that promise.

Leader Grant hadn't made any other moves yet either, so he probably thought Senshi was too injured to continue. How embarrassing for him to see her arguing with her own pokemon.

Senshi still seemed reluctant, but after a moment, he bowed his head and went back into the pokeball.

When Brittany came out, Avaline told her to be careful. She wasn't sure what 'dragon dance' was - maybe it was like 'swords dance' - but Regina seemed faster. "Stay out of her reach."

Brittany gave her a little sing-song noise of acknowledgement, but Avaline was still worried. Brittany had a tendency to forget what she was supposed to be doing when she was excited.

Grant scratched his cheek, watching Brittany float well above Regina's head. "Well."

He didn't say anything else. Avaline would've felt worse about Brittany's unfair advantage if Regina didn't look like she could easily swallow her whole. She waited a moment to see if Grant would do anything, but neither he nor Regina moved. She looked at Brittany, who was practically vibrating with excitement. "...Fairy wind?"

Brittany's body expanded as she took a deep breath. As she exhaled, the air seemed to shimmer where it caught the light. Regina tried to hop out of the way but was still caught in the wind, shaking her head as though dizzy.

 _So it is a rock/dragon type._ Avaline let herself relax a little. Between Brittany, Atlas and Queenie, they could still win this.

"Aim high," Grant said suddenly.

Regina threw a rock into the air with her nose and then used her tail like a sports bat, whacking it in Brittany's direction.

"Watch out!"

Brittany was too busy doing a victory dance and didn't notice that she'd lose height. Avaline cursed under her breath. _**I**_ _should've noticed._ The rock clipped Brittany and sent her flying through the air with a squeak. She landed on the floor, dazed.

"Nice shot," Grant said, as Regina charged Brittany.

Spritzee were frail; if Regina had done that much damage to Senshi, she'd be able to knock Brittany out of the fight with ease. And she was faster than her! Brittany couldn't dodge…

"Draining kiss!" Avaline called.

It wasn't a kiss so much as Brittany squashing her face against Regina when she barrelled into her. Avaline wasn't even sure at first if the attack had worked. But then Regina started to slow and sank to the floor, whilst Brittany puffed up and rose into the air again with a twirl. Avaline breathed a sigh of relief.

"Not to worry, Regina," Grant said. "I'm sure you'll win next time."

Regina still seemed despondent, slowly trailing over to Grant with her head low. Brittany flew over and kept pace with her for a bit, making the loud noises of encouragement. Regina didn't react and Brittany came over to Avaline, making a long, high-pitched trill.

Avaline wasn't sure if she was asking a question or expressing concern. "I'm sure she'll feel better soon."

That seemed to cheer Brittany up, anyway. She settled on Avaline's shoulder whilst Grant chose his next pokemon.

It didn't take long. The new pokemon stood on all fours and was nearly as tall as Avaline's shoulder. It had blue skin, large eyes, and two yellow frills on its head. Again, she had no idea what it was.

Brittany made a small squeaking noise next to her ear.

Avaline forced herself to smile as a show of confidence. "Let's try to find out what attacks it knows so I can decide who to call out next, okay? Can you do that for me?"

Brittany leapt off Avaline's shoulder with a cry, holding her arms out in a dramatic pose.

Sighing, Avaline wondered if she was ever going to take battling seriously. "I'll take that as a yes."

The strange pokemon tilted its head and made a low noise. Brittany answered in her usual excited manner, although Avaline wasn't sure exactly what she was saying. The other pokemon blinked and bobbed its head a few times.

Grant smiled and patted its head briefly. "Just be careful where you aim, Arcturus. Let's not make the field too slippery."

Arcturus turned back to look at him. Avaline imagined it had a betrayed expression. _Slippery… maybe a water type, then?_

Brittany gave Arcturus a moment to turn his attention to the battle and then flew over his head, preparing another fairy wind. Arcturus raised his head towards her a breathed a multicoloured beam of light. Avaline saw Brittany shudder. A few tiny ice crystals gathered on her feathers until she shook them off.

So it was an _ice_ type. Then the multicoloured attack must be aurora beam. At least that made choosing her next pokemon easy - Atlas would get to fight after all.

Brittany wasn't done yet, though. Without waiting for Avaline to say anything, she flew low towards Arcturus, pecking at his face. Avaline assumed it was another draining kiss to recover from her injuries, but she wasn't sure how much good it would do.

It turned out that getting close to Arcturus was a mistake. Brittany was just attempting to gain distance when he slammed into her with his neck, knocking her to the ground. Again, tiny ice crystals formed on Brittany's fur. _Is it using ice to strengthen its other moves? Interesting…_

Brittany was already trying to get up again. "That's okay, Brittany, you've done enough," Avaline said.

She didn't seem to unhappy at having to come back, fluttering over to Avaline's shoulder. She felt icy cold against her neck.

"Do you… want to stay out and watch for a bit?"

Brittany let out a tiny squeak and tried to burrow under Avaline's hair. She looked to see if Grant was going to say anything, since having two pokemon out at the same time was technically against the rules, but he didn't seem to have any objections.

_Alright, then. Atlas's turn._

Atlas, predictably, was delighted to be fighting. He sized up the situation in an instant and belched out a smokescreen until Arcturus was nearly shielded from view. Atlas turned back to her for approval.

Avaline heard Grant coughing. "You might have gone a _little_ overboard there," she said, "but it's a good idea. It's much slower than you are, so try to dart in with fire fang and then come out again…" Atlas was moving before she'd even finished. "Just be careful where you bite him! We don't want to do serious harm!"

Brittany let out a high-pitched noise which left Avaline's ear ringing.

There was a dull roar from out of the smoke. She assumed Atlas had gotten a good hit in. Then Grant shouted, "Thunder wave!" before descending into more coughing.

Avaline froze. Paralysis? _It's a rock/ice type! How does it know paralysis moves?!_ "Atlas! Atlas, are you okay?"

In response, there was a brief flare of fire amongst the smoke. If he'd gone back to using ember, that meant he'd probably been hit and his movement was impeded, but at least he wasn't completely paralysed. But if this went on, the chances of Atlas becoming fully paralysed increased. Queenie didn't have any kind of advantage against ice, and she was just as vulnerable to rock types as Atlas.

She crossed her fingers, hoping that Grant was nearly as unfamiliar with charmeleon as she was with Kalosian rock types. "Atlas! Try a big attack!" He should know what she meant.

According to the pokedex, the "dragon breath" that a number of fire types could use was more like a fire attack strengthened with dragon type energy. It was theorised to be a remnant of when they had a secondary dragon typing - but since they now had barely any affinity to the dragon type, it took a while to ready the attack, leaving them open, and it was difficult to increase its power, so after a certain point in their development it became basically useless.

Before they reached that point, though…

Atlas's blue flames gave the smoke a tinge of colour that was almost ethereal. Arcturus let out a screech, and Avaline saw the distinct light of aurora beam aimed wildly through the smoke. She saw the logic. It wouldn't do that much damage to Atlas but it would help to locate him. The smoke was starting to dissipate, so then Arcturus could do a more targeted rock type attack.

"Try to take it out before the smoke disappears. Don't worry about hiding now!"

Atlas himself was visible as the smoke cleared away. His muscles tensed and twitched in odd places. She winced. It must be paining him, but of course he wouldn't tell her about that, in case she switched him out. He peppered small embers at Arcturus from close range even as Arcturus pulled a rock out of the earth and threw it at Atlas. He staggered back.

Avaline's fists were clenched so tightly together that they were starting to ache. "Atlas, come ba—"

He spared a moment to glare at her before pulling his head back to spit out another fire attack. Arcturus tried to dodge it, but it caught one of his hind legs and he stumbled.

Atlas was readying another attack when Grant sighed and said, "Alright, it's over," and he had to hastily spit it at the ground instead.

It felt like another anti-climatic end, but Avaline didn't care all that much right then. She rushed over to Atlas. "There was still Queenie, you know," she scolded him. "You don't have to do it all by yourself!"

Brittany flew off Avaline's shoulder and bounced on top of his head. Atlas made a half-hearted swipe at her, which he stopped halfway through with a grimace and a whine.

She sighed and rubbed his head. "But you did well. I'll take everyone to the Pokemon Centre, and then we'll go celebrate with Calem tomorrow. Okay?"

Atlas closed his eyes and leaned a little closer. Brittany, still sat on top of his head, chirped and patted him gently with one of her fluffy arms. Avaline wasn't even sure if he felt it, but it was the thought that mattered.

 

They spent a few more days recovering in Cyllage City. Dr. Albain sent Avaline another email about the dig. He'd spoken with his colleagues about the mega stones and the thoughts she'd shared about there needing to be a _reciprocal_ friendship between pokemon and trainer, and he'd come up with a theory that worked with the 'heavy duty' equipment they'd found at the site.

"Mega evolution makes pokemon dangerous?" Calem said, reading over her shoulder. He scratched his head. "I dunno…"

"I think it makes a lot of sense." Shauna had insisted Avaline forward her the email and was already reading it on her own holocaster, taking notes. "Even normal evolution can sometimes make pokemon difficult to control, so if mega evolution is as powerful as the legends suggest, it stands to reason that it might affect how pokemon behave with their trainers, too. Plus, the legends always talked about it like it was some kind of forbidden technique, which wouldn't make much sense if it was just a free power boost with no side effects."

It seemed like an unpleasant thought to Avaline. Imagine your trusted pokemon suddenly being unable to control itself. She bit her lip. "Well, I guess we forward it on to Professor Sycamore, then?"

That evening, she returned to reading _The Two Constants._ It still didn't have any insights to offer into mega evolution, but it went into more detail about the legends surrounding Yveltal. It was supposed to reappear every 1000 years, drain pokemon of life, and then go into hibernation again.

' _According to folk tales passed down in Geosenge Town,'_ the book read, ' _it was the duty of the Champion to meet Yveltal in battle and prevent it from taking too many lives. It's unclear who this 'Champion' is - it may simply be a generic heroic figure. How the Champion was supposed to prevent Yveltal draining the life force of other beings the stories do not say.'_

Part of Schwarz's theory was that Yveltal and Xerneas were both real beings - and wasn't _that_ a terrifying thought - and Yveltal benefited in some way from Xerneas's presence, which is why in older legends they were often seen together. He suggested that the 'Champion' had a pokemon that, to an extent, could mimic the effects of Xerneas's power, and mitigate the loss of life somehow.

That… that would explain the painting perfectly. If Xerneas was supposed to be the god of life… audino had healing abilities; that would be a related power, right? And it explained why the king looked so frightened. Against Yveltal, if the story was even partially true, he would be able to do little other than support his pokemon and hoped Yveltal did not come after them directly.

If the painting was supposed to be a warning, and not just a depiction of mythology, that meant that Yveltal really _did_ come every thousand years.

Avaline dropped the book.

Shauna looked over, taking her in with wide eyes. "Ava? Are you okay? You've gone so pale."

Should she tell Shauna? But it might not even be true, which would just worry her for nothing. ' _The number of people and pokemon who died at these events is unknown, but by the mention of mass graves, we can surmise it must be in the hundreds, sometimes even thousands,'_ she recalled the book saying.

No. No, best not to tell her. Not until she had more evidence.

Avaline tried to put on a brave face. "I think I'm just tired," she said. Her voice shook and Shauna didn't look convinced. "I'm just going to go to bed early."

"Are you sure? I can ask a nurse to come see you if you're not feeling well."

"No, it's not that big a deal." Avaline tried to scoop up _The Two Constants_ quickly, so Shauna wouldn't see how badly her hands were shaking, but she dropped it again before she could place it on the bedside table. There was a loud _smack_ as it hit the surface. Avaline winced.

"Ava…" Shauna hesitated for a moment. "You know you can talk to me if anything's bothering you, okay?"

"Yeah," Avaline said. "Yeah, I do know. Thank you, Shauna."

_But I think I'd rather keep this to myself._

She spent their journey to Geosenge Town the next day making notes in her holocaster, trying to draw her jumbled thoughts into some kind of coherent theory. Maybe she should email the professor? No, that was going too far, he didn't need to hear her half-baked, panicked theories either. Maybe there would be something more concrete in Shalour City, in Frederic DuBois' diary. Professor Sycamore had originally said they should visit Geosenge Town, and _The Two Constants_ sourced a lot of its information from folk tales originating there. Perhaps there was something…?

She pretended not to notice the worried looks Calem and Shauna exchanged over her head. If she acknowledged it, she might have to explain her behaviour.

When they arrived at Geosenge Town, it was still barely afternoon, but when Avaline said she didn't really feel up to exploring, her friends readily agreed. Shauna kept a close watch on her all day and would barely let her get out of bed; as soon as Avaline made to do something, Shauna would leap up and offer to fetch it for her, or fix Avaline's covers, or give her another pillow to prop her up.

Brittany, who was the only one of Avaline's pokemon really small enough to be out of her pokeball indoors, was concerned too. She might as well have been glued to her shoulder during the day, and when Avaline fell into a restless sleep that night, Brittany was there every time she woke up, fussing over her. She wasn't sure if Brittany slept at all.

 

The next morning, Avaline woke early and found it impossible to get back to sleep. She lay in bed, thinking. Her panic seemed a little like an overreaction now. Even if it was all true, there was nothing _she_ could do about it. According to _The Two Constants,_ Yveltal was due to appear for several hundred years. She didn't need to prove or disprove the myth _today._

Besides, she noticed that Shauna also seemed to have slept badly. The circles under her eyes didn't show up quite as badly as they did on Avaline's pale face, but they were still noticeable. Avaline wasn't sure if she had accidentally woken up Shauna in the night a few times or if Shauna had been so worried about her that she _also_ had trouble sleeping.

Either way, Avaline felt like she owed her some sort of apology. Leaving Brittany to sleep more on the bed, she got herself ready for the day. She was more sluggish than usual, and by the time she was ready, they had started serving breakfast downstairs. She ate mechanically and brought some pastries upstairs for Shauna.

Shauna was already awake when she stepped into the room. "Ava!" she said, peering at her critically. "How long have you been awake? You should go back to bed."

"I already tried; I couldn't sleep." She wasn't sure how to explain her mood, so she offered Shauna the plate of pastries instead. "I feel better today, though."

"You still look tired," Shauna said. But she smiled and started to eat.

"If you feel up to it," Avaline said, fiddling with her hands, "I thought we could try catching an eevee today? The pokedex said they're more likely to appear in the early morning when there aren't as many people around, so…"

Shauna's entire face lit up. She tried to mumble something around her pastry, gave up, and just gave Avaline the thumbs up instead.

To lessen the chance of one of them accidentally scaring an eevee away, they split up to search on Menhir Trail (Route 10). The gravestones made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end and Avaline couldn't help but wonder if they were from Yveltal. But no, she'd promised herself she'd be more cheerful today, for Shauna's sake.

Avaline had expected eevees to be really rare and to spend possibly several days looking, but to her surprise, she came across one within the first hour of searching. It looked absurdly bright-eyed and playful. Avaline half worried that the eevee was actually a little younger than she thought and didn't really understand that if you came in front of a trainer without running away, the trainer would assume you wanted to be caught. But after fighting with Atlas for some time, the little eevee looked positively heartbroken when she hesitated over throwing the pokeball. Avaline didn't stand much chance against its pleading eyes, but she vowed to check with the nurse at the pokemon centre to make sure the eevee wasn't too young for battling.

She was still a little worried about being able to afford to provide for five pokemon - she might end up catching a sixth soon as the Gym Leaders would soon begin deploying more pokemon during their battles too - but with the Battle Chateau generally close at hand, she at least had a reasonable source of income. She could even hire a flying type to take her out to the Chateau if she started to run _really_ low.

Shauna didn't answer Avaline's call, so she assumed she must still be searching. She headed back to the Centre and asked the nurses to check out the eevee. To her surprise, he was quite a bit older than he seemed. Although she hadn't thought of a name for him yet, she decided to introduce him to the rest of her pokemon.

He immediately made a beeline for Atlas, sitting at his feet and yipping excitedly. Atlas seemed unsure of what to do, looking to the rest of them for reassurance. Senshi shrugged and Brittany trilled something that had Atlas shaking his head violently.

"Don't look at me," Avaline said. "I don't even understand what he's saying."

The little eevee perked up at this. He bounded over to lick her hand… and then immediately went back to sit at Atlas's side like a loyal growlithe. At least he didn't _dislike_ Avaline?

Eventually, Queenie made a buzzing noise. She mimed jabbing her pincers.

Atlas looked down at the tiny eevee. He appeared to be pulling the same pleading eyes trick he had used on Avaline. Atlas sat down and started to talk to him. The eevee listened attentively. The rest of them might as well have not been in the room.

Avaline watched the two of them for a few moments, feeling increasingly confused. "Queenie," she said slowly, "is Atlas telling him about battling?"

Queenie nodded.

The eevee stood up suddenly and mimed tackling someone, tripping over his own feet and falling flat on his face. He stood up again and Atlas gently corrected his stance.

 _Atlas has an apprentice or something,_ Avaline thought dazedly. _Sure. Why not?_

At least Senshi seemed just as confused as she was.

That evening, they all met up again for dinner. Since Calem wasn't that interested in catching anything around Geosenge Town, he'd had nothing to do but fight trainers all day.

"Are we going to be heading to Shalour soon?" he asked. He seemed calm except for the leg that he was bouncing under the table.

Shauna looked at her. Avaline hesitated. She didn't want to make Calem stay here, bored, for too long, but she still wanted to see what she could find out from the Geosenge folk tales. "Maybe we can head out tomorrow afternoon?" she said. "I still want to ask around about mega evolution."

"Oh, of course!" Calem said. "We did promise the professor we'd look into it."

But she sensed that he was still disappointed. Hopefully she wouldn't take too long tomorrow…

 

Avaline quickly decided that she must have been a little overzealous in her reading, because she didn't find much that she wasn't already familiar with. It was nice to hear some of the stories told by Geosenge's traditional folk tellers, despite the performances being a little exaggerated for the sake of the tourists. She always misjudged how much she was supposed to leave as a tip and either got wide eyed stares or filthy looks. She was nearly as new to Kalos as the tourists were; why did _she_ keep getting it wrong?

Still, whilst it was interesting, it wasn't much use of her day, and Avaline could tell from Calem's odd texts that he was itching to get started on their way to Shalour City where a new Gym Badge awaited. Eventually she just told Calem to go on ahead. Shauna said that she would stay in Geosenge with her and they'd meet Calem tomorrow if necessary.

At noon, Avaline stopped to take a break. She'd been wandering around the town all day and wasn't sure if it was worth persevering. She let Queenie out of her pokeball. Queenie probably wouldn't have any advice, but she would be nice to talk to.

"I'm trying to find out about something I read in my book," she told her, "but I'm not sure if it's worth it to keep trying…"

Queenie gave her a questioning buzz, and suddenly everything came tumbling out of Avaline's mouth - Yveltal, the painting, it might be _real,_ but then that meant…

Avaline didn't stop talking until her mouth was dry and she had to swallow. She was surprised to find tears in her eyes. "I guess I didn't do a very good job of distracting myself, after all," she said, wiping them away.

Queenie patted her shoulder, cautiously, with one of her huge stingers.

"It's not often that you see a fashionable girl like you with a beedrill," another voice said.

Avaline jumped and whirled around. There was an old woman watching them. Her hair was completely white and tied up into a messy bun, a sharp contrast to her dark, wrinkled skin.

"...Thanks?" she hazarded. She wasn't really sure what to make of her strange comment.

The old woman was studying Queenie with a soft smile on her face. "Been a while since I've seen a beedrill at all, in fact," she said. Then she turned her sharp gaze on Avaline. "I've seen you around here all day, girlie, following the storytellers, but you're no gawping tourist. What are you after?"

Avaline suspected the woman had overheard what she was saying to Queenie, anyway, but she said, "I'm researching mega evolution for Professor Sycamore. I thought someone here might know about it."

"A professor, eh?" The old woman sniffed and rubbed her nose. "Ha! Not often we get scientific folks interested in our tales." She picked up her bag and looked at Avaline expectantly. "Well? Let's go to a cafe. Buy me a coffee and I'll tell you all about it."

Even if it was just a scam to get a free coffee and some company, Avaline thought, a coffee was way less than she'd tipped those storytellers.

In the cafe, to her surprise, the old woman wanted some kind of complicated latte with extra spices, which was always a drink Avaline thought was more a 'young person' thing. It was hardly costing her a lot out of pocket, so it was no skin off her nose, and she seemed like the sort of woman who might like to mess with people's expectations.

"My name is Victoire," she said. "And your name is?"

Avaline introduced herself. "And this is Queenie," she added.

The old woman smiled at Queenie fondly. Queenie seemed interested in her hair, raising her stinger as though to poke it. " _Queenie!"_ Avaline hissed. She came to her senses and backed away, clanging her stingers together. "She means that as—" Avaline started to say.

"As an apology," Victoire said. "I know."

She didn't seem to want to talk about Queenie any more. She confirmed the story Avaline had heard from many of the tour guides - how the king had lost his pokemon in the Great War, and, driven by grief, had built a powerful machine which could bring pokemon back to life. But when his pokemon saw what the king had done, it abandoned him, and the king instead turned the machine into a weapon, only wanting to punish anyone who had taken part in the war that had driven his pokemon away. In Geosenge, they believed that Xerneas had been used to power the machine to give life - and that the king had sought and subdued Yveltal in order to commit mass murder with it. It wasn't a popular theory, Victoire explained. The people of Kalos liked to venerate their kings, and it was unpleasant to think of one committing the greatest evil in their nation's history.

"It's unpleasant to think of _anyone_ doing such a thing," Avaline said.

"True." Victoire sipped at her drink. "In some ways, though, it was a worse betrayal from the king. He possessed great power, which he had vowed to use only for selfless ends, in defence of his people. To use it instead for such evil was to turn his back on all his oaths." She scoffed. "No wonder his pokemon abandoned him."

Avaline was confused. "Power?"

"Mega evolution," Victoire said impatiently. "I promised to tell you about it, didn't I?"

"The king in the story could use mega evolution?"

"How else did you think he was able to force a powerful pokemon like Xerneas to become a battery for his machine? And Yveltal as well!"

Was mega evolution really that powerful? Everything she'd read in her book had lead her to believe that Xerneas and Yveltal were… well, if they weren't really gods, it wasn't an unreasonable assumption for their ancestors to have made.

"Supposedly Xerneas' rage was so great, it cursed the king to wander the earth forever and retreated from the world of humans." Victoire grew more sombre. "That's how Yveltal came to appear every thousand years as it does. It is no longer in balance with Xerneas. Since the Great War, it has been the duty of the kings, who carried on the tradition of mega evolution, to do what they can to stop it."

Avaline nodded. "That's what I thought might be the case." Her heart sank. Not that a folk tale was really confirmation, but… it seemed coincidental in the extreme that it would say the same things Avaline had worked out. And seeing the gravestones on the Menhir Trail made it that much easier to believe Yveltal really existed.

Victoire blinked at her. "You already knew?"

"Not the details," Avaline said. She explained the painting she'd seen in Parfum Palace and the connection she'd made to Yveltal, what it had said in her book.

"Oh, I remember that man," Victoire said. "He interviewed me for his book. I suppose he took at least half of the story seriously..."

"But the line of the kings has died out," Avaline said suddenly. She didn't realise that she'd said it out loud until she noticed Victoire watching her carefully. "So… when Yveltal comes back, who's going to fight it?"

"I don't know," she answered. "Mega evolution hasn't died out completely. But I don't know who might currently have the power, or if they know about Yveltal at all."

She was still scrutinising Avaline. Queenie hovered a little closer to her, until Avaline could feel the wind from her wingbeats stirring her hair.

Victoire looked unbearably sad all of a sudden. "Walk me home," she said abruptly, standing. Her coffee wasn't even close to finished.

Avaline hesitated, but then decided to follow her. She hadn't been rude at all, just a little strange. Besides, she had Queenie with her.

They walked together in silence. Victoire seemed distracted, and Avaline didn't know what to say to break the silence. But she didn't turn out to live very far away from the cafe. After a few blocks, they stopped in front of a terraced house with a tiny, excruciatingly neat front garden.

Victoire seemed to hesitate at the threshold, but eventually she took a deep breath and stood a little straighter. "Wait here for a moment."

Avaline exchanged a look with Queenie. It was hard to tell with beedrill, but she felt like Queenie was just as confused as she was.

A few minutes later, Victoire left the house again, carrying a small bundle wrapped in cloth. As she got closer to Avaline and Queenie, she unwrapped it—

_A mega stone?_

Queenie seemed mesmerised by it. She flew to examine it at eye level, then tapped it with her stingers, and finally touched her face to it, before jerking back like she'd been shocked.

Victoire gave it to Avaline. Like the one from Dr. Albain's dig, it felt warm to the touch. She stared at it. The colours in the centre were yellow and black.

"My brother had a beedrill," Victoire said quietly. "When she died, he left on a journey, and I never saw him again."

Avaline looked at her, unsure what to say.

"He wanted me to bury it with her," she went on, "but I couldn't bear to part with it. It was the only thing I had to remind me of the two of them." She let out a breath and closed her eyes. "But I feel like you may need it more than I do."

There was a lump in Avaline's throat. She still couldn't think of the right thing to say, but she reached over to squeeze Victoire's hand.

 

After the old woman said her goodbyes, Avaline wandered slowly back to the Centre. She hadn't thought that much about the Great War before, though of course she'd always known about it from her mother's stories. How could someone think to cause so much death because of their own selfish grief? How could they live with themselves afterwards? And if Victoire was right (Avaline's instincts told her she was), he had started this foul cycle with Yveltal.

What would happen if the secrets of mega evolution were lost and there was nobody to save Kalos from Yveltal? The last sighting, according to her book, had been about seven hundred years ago, which if it really did come every one thousand years, still left another three hundred years until its next appearance. Who could say what would happen before then?

When Shauna eventually came up to bed, Avaline pretended to be asleep because she couldn't muster up the energy to engage, but her mind dwelled on depressing thoughts and it was a long time before she drifted off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Current team:  
> Frogadier (M) - Senshi  
> Beedrill (F) - Queenie  
> Charmeleon (M) - Atlas  
> Spritzee (F) - Brittany  
> Eevee (M)


	11. Serendipity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a heads up in case anyone really is reading this, I added the Major Character Death tag. This won't come up until much later in the story, and nothing about the story has actually changed - when I first posted I didn't think that it counted as "Major Character Death", but I've reconsidered and think it probably does. Apologies to anyone whose enjoyment would be affected by this.

When Avaline woke, it was later than usual. Shauna was nowhere in sight, but she'd left Avaline a note.

_Are you sure you're not sick? Please tell the nurses, I'm sure they can help somehow! Calem is waiting for us in Shalour City (there's a queue for the Gym anyway). Give me a call when you're feeling better and we can go meet him if you like! Or we can do something else, there's no rush._

_Love, Shauna xxx_

Calem had also sent her a message on the holocaster, short and simple: _Shauna says you're still not well. Hope you feel better soon. But if you keep refusing to ask for help, I'm going to tell your mother._

She found herself smiling. She really didn't deserve those two sometimes.

The beedrillite was still in her bag. She sat with it in her palm for a while. It gave her the same feeling that Queenie did; a quiet, solid support. She wondered if Victoire's brother had felt the same thing, or if it depended on how you felt about your beedrill.

Avaline didn't want to drag the mood down for Shauna and Calem, but she couldn't just let go of the enormous weight on her chest. It wasn't that she couldn't do anything about Yveltal; after this was over, she could write a book about everything she'd learned. People might think she was mad, but the information would be out there for anyone practising mega evolution - and if Victoire's brother had discovered it independently, surely others must have, too, like whoever trained that gyarados in the picture.

But three hundred years was such a long time. Anything could happen by then.

She felt so helpless.

But Calem was right. Wallowing wouldn't do her any good. Come to think of it, she hadn't called home in a few days, or replied to Mariko's most recent email.

Mum picked up right away that something wasn't right, but Avaline insisted that she was just feeling under the weather and she didn't push it. Instead, Avaline listened to her mother rant about Roran eating someone's flowers and making himself sick on top of getting Grace in trouble with the neighbours. Then Mum put her on speaker so she could blow kisses to Roran and make soothing noises as he whined about his upset tummy. _Honestly, she spoils him rotten._

At least she didn't have to put on a brave face to Mariko. She told her about the amaura and tyrunt at Cyllage City Gym - she'd looked them up afterwards - and talking about the eevee she'd caught and offered to catch one for Mariko as well, if it wasn't prohibitively expensive to send pokemon to Johto. It all seemed short and fake to Avaline. She hesitated, but it was better than sending Mariko nothing.

After that, Avaline felt a little more like a real person with real worries. It was enough to get her out of bed and ready for the day.

 

 

She'd intended to head to a cafe to sit with her pokemon for a while. Surely she couldn't be miserable in front of her bizarre and adorable eevee? But Avaline heard a familiar cry. Her spirits lifted and she was already smiling when Ariel the lucario skidded to a stop in front of her, panting, with his arm outstretched. Avaline laughed, bumped fists, and then threw her arms around him in a hug.

"You were _exactly_ who I needed to see today," she murmured. "Thanks." Ariel nuzzled her cheek by way of reply.

She'd worried that she wouldn't see him again, that it was just one of those chance meetings that stayed with you your whole life as a 'what if'. Meeting Ariel again made it feel a little less like random happenstance and more like the stars had aligned somewhere.

Even the sight of Korrina, still in her skates, didn't dampen Avaline's spirits. "I knew there was a reason you wanted to go the long way home!" she said to Ariel, who only reacted with a playful twitch of his tail. The other lucario huffed through its nose in a way which reminded her a lot of Calem's sighs and she couldn't help but giggle. "Avaline, isn't it? Are you the one investigating mega evolution?"

"One of the ones," Avaline corrected. "You know the professor?"

"Yep! Augustine and I are old friends. He told me about all your research. I was surprised you managed to find so much - to think that mega evolution might actually be real. Isn't it exciting?"

Avaline grimaced. It was hard to feel that way when she still hadn't told Professor Sycamore about her latest 'findings'. "I guess so…"

Ariel made a soft whine and stroked Avaline's hair.

Korrina gave her a look of concern. "Is something wrong?"

She was distracted by Ariel's fussing. "It's not as bad as I make it sound," she said, mainly for his benefit, "but with finding out that mega evolution might be real after all, I heard a story here that the old masters of mega evolution were supposed to stop Yveltal every thousand years, and I guess it just… got to me…"

Frowning, Avaline realised Ariel had frozen. She thought she'd downplayed it well enough.

Korrina was also acting strangely, fiddling with her white gloves. "It's… well, I'm sure it's not a pleasant story."

Her other lucario barked something, making Ariel jump and glare at him. Avaline patted his arm and he relaxed, making a pleased sort of snort.

"Are you headed to Shalour City?" Korrina asked. She seemed a little restless, shifting on her skates without actually going anywhere. "You're welcome to travel with us if you like. I'm sure Ariel would like your company! And don't be so dour, Mr. Jealousy. Sorry," she added to Avaline, "they're brothers and _this one_ is used to having Ariel all to himself."

Korrina's other lucario huffed and turned away.

"I would, but I'm meeting a friend later."

Ariel's ears drooped a little and she sent him an apologetic look.

"Ah, nevermind then." Korrina brightened suddenly. "I tell you what, though; why don't you come to visit us at the Tower of Mastery? My grandfather still runs it, and whilst it's technically supposed to be for fighting type specialists, we do make exceptions and I'm sure Ariel would love to have you visit."

Ariel nodded emphatically.

"That sounds wonderful," Avaline said. It was less about the specialised training - perhaps it was a little conceited, but she didn't really feel that she needed too much help in that department - but more the chance to spend some proper time with Ariel.

"Well, we'll be in town for a couple of weeks, so don't feel like you have to rush yourself," Korrina said. "See you later then, Avaline!"

Ariel insisted that they fistbump again before he would leave. Avaline saw the other lucario turn its head away haughtily. Ariel eventually pestered him into fistbumping too and he seemed to brighten. It was just about the cutest thing she'd ever seen.

Even after he'd left, seeing Ariel renewed her spirits. Avaline suddenly realised that she was starving. After she'd waved them off, she called Shauna to suggest they get an early lunch together. Until she ordered seconds, she hasn't realised just how little she had been eating recently. When she went to the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror, she could see that despite the tan from all her time outside, there were bags under her eyes and her hair looked dull and lifeless. No wonder Shauna and Calem were pestering her so much about being sick.

 _This is just supposed to be a relaxed trip,_ she told herself firmly. _I've been working too hard._

They went out to play with their new eevees on Route 11, Miroir Way, and Avaline was challenged by a few trainers. Her new eevee - she'd decided to call him Johto after the collective envy she would get if she were back home - wanted to fight them. She lost every battle, but it didn't seem to be quite as important somehow. Quite apart from the Battle Chateau, her mother was quite well off and wouldn't mind sending some money her way to make her trip a little easier. Your journey as a trainer was supposed to teach you independence, but you didn't have to become a miniature adult straight away.

That evening, she and Shauna went out again for dinner and both dared each other to try the worst-sounding dishes on the menu, which weren't actually as bad as expected. They ordered two desserts each and stayed up late talking about nothing at all. It was the first time in weeks that she had felt as carefree and happy as she had before she moved to Kalos.

Avaline and Shauna decided the next morning that they would go to meet Calem in Shalour City, since it wasn't a long trek through Reflection Cave. They walked arm in arm and made funny faces in the strange reflective walls, jumping into a random tourist's photo in a crime-fighting-squad-style pose - but it was all in good fun and the tourist laughed the hardest. They challenged each other to a pokemon catching competition. Avaline won by miles, but Shauna was the only one of them to catch a very rare carbink so she declared herself a winning second place.

By the time they got to Shalour City, Avaline was flat out of pokeballs and her whole body felt lighter than ever. She stood with Shauna just outside the exit from Reflection Cave, breathing in the fresh sea-salt air and looking out over Shalour. It was quite small as cities went, more similar in feel to Violet City than to Goldenrod, but it had the same (to Avaline) olde worlde charm as the rest of Kalos.

"Hey, Professor Sycamore said that this was where that guy's diary was, right? In the archives? Are you going to have a look?"

And Avaline felt that she was able to say, "Yeah, translating it was kind of fun in the end," without feeling like it was something she _must do_ or that had to be done _right now!_ "Let's go check out the shops first though. I still think you would look really cute in a pale pink dress. At least let me find you a skirt to try."

Shauna wrinkled her nose but laughed anyway.

They met up with Calem later that afternoon at the pokemon centre. To Avaline's surprise, he hadn't yet acquired the local Gym Badge.

"The Leader is out of town," Calem said. "I've just been training. I hear that her new film is entering post-production, though, so I think she'll be here soon. Have you thought about making an appointment to battle her, Avaline? She's not always available so there tends to be lots of trainers waiting to battle her when she eventually does get back into town, and they had to give up on the first-come-first-served system here."

Huh. That was probably why they were four to a room in this pokemon centre instead of the usual two. "Yeah, I might do, but I probably want to spend time a lot of time in the archives. So, the Gym Leader here works in the film industry? That's pretty cool!"

Shauna was staring at her like she'd grown a second head and Calem's brows were furrowed as though studying some particularly unusual pokemon behaviour. She shifted in her seat. "What?"

"Avaline... the Gym Leader her is _Diantha._ "

" _What?!_ "

It turned out that Avaline must have had her head buried in the sand for approximately the last ten years and then some because, through some miracle, she'd actually never heard that the world famous movie star, Diantha, was also a Gym Leader.

"She's very modest. I don't think she really talks about it much," Calem said, trying to defend her ignorance. The effect was slightly undermined by the way he kept mouthing _works in the film industry_ with a disbelieving look on his face when he thought she wasn't looking.

Avaline buried her face in her hands and quietly prayed to never have to emerge from them again. "I talked to her. I talked to her in person! And she asked me about my training and I had _no idea she was a Gym Leader!_ This is so embarrassing, what if she remembers me? Oh no she asked about Mum she is so totally going to remember me this is the _worst thing_ -"

"I'm sure it's fine!" Shauna chirped. "She probably didn't even realise you didn't know she was a Gym Leader! It probably happens all the time."

" _But I forgot to ask Mum about the gala!_ " Avaline wailed.

 

 

She headed to the archives to take her mind off things for a while. Hopefully, concentrating on another task would calm her down a bit. It definitely wasn't because she was monumentally embarrassed.

She just couldn't believe she'd moved to the Kalos region - become a trainer here - without even knowing Diantha was a Gym Leader! Argh! Why did life have to be full of surprises like this, why couldn't it just be nice surprises like 'oh wow Diantha is a big fan of my Mum's at a time which is especially convenient for me'?

Avaline took a deep breath. Dwelling on it wouldn't change anything. Oof. It was so embarrassing though...

The whole thing was so embarrassing that it didn't even register when the receptionist to the archives frowned at her clothes, clearly feeling they were not the right attire for someone interested in her dusty archives. Whatever. Nobody really cared about the archives, so, Avaline probably hadn't missed magazine articles like: 'Outfits for Amateur Historians: update your wardrobe AND your working knowledge of Kalosian history!'

It felt weird to actually hold Frederic DuBois' diary, even if the archivist had made her wear gloves. It wasn't even that delicate - she'd read that they'd actually used much higher quality paper a few hundred years ago compared to the mass produced stuff of today, and before _that_ , works a thousand years old or more survived surprisingly well on vellum, which had been used precisely because it was durable and hard wearing. To be honest, though, Avaline was perfectly happy that they no longer used gogoat and mareep skins for books. She could live without super high quality paper.

The archives were underground, with fluorescent lights and the air was slightly chilly. Avaline was glad she'd brought a jumper. The atmosphere made everything feel kind of timeless. It made it difficult to gauge her progress. The first time she checked her holo caster for the time, only an hour and a half had passed, but the next time she looked, it was almost dinner time and about half an hour until the archive closed. Avaline grumbled to herself quietly. The archives didn't open until ten the next morning and she hadn't even managed to find the part of the diary when DuBois had his first encounter with mega evolution.

The next day, she was determined to get some real work done, and must have been a little too fired up because she was at the archives before they even officially opened. The woman from the previous day opened the door for her with a disbelieving expression. She was a little more polite to Avaline then, so maybe she'd proven that she was actually passionate about history! ...Avaline would rather have spent the extra ten minutes in bed, honestly.

To her relief, it turned out that yesterday she had only been a little way off reaching DuBois' introduction to the mega evolution trainer and she only had to wade through two pages of his bad poetry. It was immediately pretty clear that DuBois was taken with the mega evolution guy. He gave him a name in these early passages - Arnaud. By DuBois' description he must have been one handsome man; at least two paragraphs were dedicated to the shape of his eyebrows and an entire page to the particular way his eyes looked when they caught the sun in a moment of contemplation. Avaline skipped three pages of DuBois waxing lyrical about Arnaud's beauty and admirable character before it dawned on her that this wasn't, perhaps, a _standard_ introduction even by Frederic DuBois' flowery standards.

Avaline tried to remind herself that she was a Serious History Person now, but found herself so absorbed in the unfolding love story that she kept forgetting to write down the information about mega evolution. DuBois was obviously not too sure of himself because he switched between relatively clinical accounts of the transformations of Arnaud's pokemon and long, self-castigating monologues about his unfaithful heart (he was already engaged by this time, to the wife Avaline recalled from his biography) and vaguely explained 'desires'. Some of the pages seemed to be stained by tears. Avaline's heart broke for him. It felt almost uncomfortably intimate to read things that DuBois had obviously intended that no one else would see.

She continued on, making small notes every now and then, but mainly just absorbing the words. If the archive hadn't been _quite_ so still and silent, Avaline probably would have jumped for joy when Arnaud finally confessed that he also had feelings for Frederic.

From there, it was a little less tense of a read. Arnaud explained to Frederic that mega evolution was a secret discipline carried on throughout the generations, known only to a select few. This wasn't, he said, because they wished to keep the secret for themselves, but because they only had sufficient stones for two trainers ('masters' as they were known then). One had been lost with one of the last of Kalos' kings, Xanath II, when he died suddenly, and the two others had been left in possession of that king's trusted servant, who was Arnaud's ancestor. Arnaud himself was the last of his family and travelling only out of necessity to find a successor.

Frederic also gave a detailed description of the mega stones in Arnaud's possession. Two of them were described as "filled with blue" - the two "lucarionite" stones, as Arnaud called them. There was also a mega stone with a pale pink centre, which was meant for a gardevoir, but Arnaud had no talent for handling psychic type pokemon; he told Frederic it hadn't been used in his family for generations. To Avaline's disappointment, there were no description which seemed to match the ones they'd found in Glittering Cave. Still, if the stones were as indestructible as Frederic's diary insisted, then maybe it was more of a positive thing - the known collection of mega stones, including the "gyaradosite" that the photographed pokemon's trainer must possess, had doubled.

Frederic spent a lot of time dwelling on what he would do when the time came for him and Arnaud to part ways. _I wonder what happened to them?_ She felt uneasy about reading the diary (or diaries; she knew there was another one after this) because she presumed at some point their relationship would have to end. DuBois still went on to marry his wife and have children. Just because she was reading a snapshot in time where that wasn't the certain future didn't mean she could change the past.

Avaline ploughed on regardless, although with a heavy heart. Frederic's next quest was to help Arnaud rediscover one of the trainer's mega stones - ' _He knew that at one point there had been a good number, but that many had been lost during the Great War,'_ Frederic wrote. _'It was a heavy burden on his mind, as he was mindful of the duty of those masters in possession of such stones to guard Kalos; and one burden which I most desperately wished to ease.'_

Was he alluding to the legend about Yveltal? Avaline raced through the next few pages as quickly as possible, hoping to find some further detail, but Frederic only described discussing the matter - in veiled terms - with some of his friends in archaeology, which was a apparently a great interest of his.

 _'After much persuasion, I have finally managed to convince Leon-'_ Frederic's brother in law, who came from a wealthy family. _'-to partner with me in funding an expedition in one likely noble estate from before the Civil War, although he protested most vehemently that he did not see the reason for my interest as the study of before the Civil War was not much in fashion at that moment. Not much in fashion, indeed!'_

The expedition was something of a success, at least from the point of view of Frederic's brother in law, since they discovered a lot of fancy jewellery, expensive pottery, and other general knick-knacks from the nobility which Frederic showed little interest in.

_'Leon has written me again to say that our expedition is the talk of the town, and to advise me that we have been asked to put our findings to the Lumiose Historical Society. He praised me effusively for my forethought in this matter and assured me that he was petitioning the Museum of Natural History for an exhibition "almost daily". Alas, if only I could be so content with our results. My dear Arnaud, despite his protests to the contrary, must have been more hopeful of our discovering a masters' stone than he let on to me, for he has become quite despondent.'_

But only on the next page they were both celebrating.

 _'All our effort has at last been rewarded! Truly I never before set eyes on such a remarkable jewel, with an exception of course for my remarkable Arnaud.'_ Frederic could be a little sickeningly lovey-dovey sometimes. _'The masters' stones are much smaller than those used by their pokemon, comfortably sitting in the palm of one's hand. A mottled pattern of green-purple makes one think of a beautiful field of lavender as though seen through a blurred glass...'_

Avaline's stomach growled suddenly. She blushed, feeling self-conscious and looking at her holo caster to avoid catching anyone's eye. To her astonishment, it was late afternoon! She'd been so caught up in Frederic's diary that she hadn't noticed, and in the time it took her to find a place, eat, and come back again, it would be almost time for the archives to close. Sighing, she decided to call it a day. She'd made good progress for today, at least - the painting in Parfum Palace hadn't given a very good impression due to the angle of the crown, and whilst she could say retrospectively that it did resemble Frederic's description. She wouldn't have compared it to fields of lavender, no matter how blurred, but without the diary she wouldn't have had any idea if that was the universal look of the trainers' mega stones or not.

Anyway, a part of her didn't really _want_ to read any further. Arnaud and Frederic were a cute couple, and it was sad to think that Frederic would eventually go on to marry someone else. She gathered he wasn't that enthused about his future wife.

Maybe tomorrow she should go to see Ariel at the Tower of Mastery. That would give her something to look forward to.

 

 

It wasn't hard to find the Tower of Mastery. Whilst it was a way out of town, it was tall and close enough that it pretty much dominated the skyline of Shalour City. Avaline made her way to the edge of the city quite leisurely. Once she hit the northern reaches of the city, buildings started becoming few and far between and there were a lot less people. She decided to let Queenie out to walk (well, fly) with her. It felt like they hadn't had a good chat in ages.

The few people they passed on the way looked at Avaline strangely, perhaps thinking that a beedrill was an unusual pokemon to see a female trainer with. She wasn't sure if it was true in Kalos, but in Johto, bug type pokemon had generally been seen as a "boy thing" and most girls either found them gross or simply displayed no interest. She'd never felt any particular antipathy towards bug types, but they hadn't really caught her interest, either, as they weren't that cute. It was different when you were out encountering pokemon all the time and you got to see their personalities, which was ultimately more important than how cute they looked, anyway. (Not that being cute could hurt, she thought, thinking of Johto's adorable, well, _everything_.)

Avaline stood at the base of the tower and looked up in awe. She had to tilt her head all the way back to see the top. The stone and the style of architecture suggested it was much older than most of the other Kalosian buildings she'd seen, which she knew were generally only a few hundred years old. The tower looked like it might be five hundred years old or even older. Maybe Korrina would be able to tell her about its history. If her grandfather lived here, she must know a lot about the place, right?

She wasn't sure what she had been expecting to find inside - maybe something a little more... homely? Then again, even the Battle Chateau wasn't decorated that lavishly considering how hard they pushed the _nobility_ sentiment, so maybe she shouldn't have expected any more than the plain stone walls and rough entrance mat.

Besides, the decor was almost beside the point, because the entrance was dominated by an enormous lucario statue, set on an round stone base, which looked like it reached up all the way to the first floor. Training lucario must run in the family; it looked nearly as old as the tower itself. She had mentioned that it was normally for fighting type specialists only, and Avaline knew that sometimes a trainer could get better results out of a particular type if they spent all their time studying its strengths, weaknesses, and worked closely with specific pokemon. That was why it was often the case that many of the strongest trainers, like the Gym Leaders and Elite Four, specialised in only one pokemon type. That principle could only apply even more so if you had the benefit of several generations' worth of specialised knowledge in one very specific pokemon!

She was so lost in admiring the statue that she didn't properly register the sound of footsteps until Queenie quietly tapped her shoulder with one of her huge arm stingers. To Avaline's delight, it wasn't a person at all, but Ariel, panting with his tongue lolling out and his tail swishing playfully.

"Queenie, this is the lucario I told you I met! Ariel, this is Queenie."

Ariel bowed to the beedrill in a surprisingly formal fashion, whilst Queenie did her own version, bringing together the tips of her arm stingers and shooting downwards, stopping just short of hitting the floor. She rejoined Avaline at about shoulder level whilst Ariel looked weirdly happy about something. Maybe he hadn't met a beedrill before.

Ariel barked at her and dashed over to the base of the statue. Avaline followed him to see that there was a small door set in the base, just tucked out of sight. She'd thought it was huge, but a whole room _underneath_ it?!

"Ariel!" a familiar voice shouted. "Where have you got to now?"

"Do you do this _all_ the time?" Avaline asked, as Korrina skated towards them from one of the upper floors. Ariel only bared his teeth in response.

Korrina laughed and shook her head ruefully when she spotted Avaline. "Nevermind. I should have guessed. Thank you for coming to visit; Ariel has been _so_ excited to see you again."

Ariel shuffled embarrassedly. _I know that feeling,_ Avaline thought sympathetically. As though trying to distract them, he abruptly knocked on the door to the statue room.

A gruff masculine voice inside shouted, "If you've put another hole in that door, so help me-" Which abruptly turned into a surprised, "Oh, a guest," when he saw Avaline. He was an old man, almost bald, with pale, weather-beaten skin and a pure white goatee.

"This is the girl Ariel is really taken with that I've been talking to you about, Grandfather," Korrina explained.

"I see," he said. Avaline felt suddenly more nervous about this introduction, like she was being judged. After a moment of silence, the man introduced himself and offered his hand. "I'm Arnaud."

Avaline blinked in surprise for a moment before she shook it. _What a weird coincidence,_ she thought. Was Arnaud a common name in Kalos? ...Then again, two instances in maybe a hundred and fifty years wasn't exactly the best basis for how common a name was.

She heard Korrina sigh as she stepped between them. "Don't pay attention to him, Avaline, he's like this with everyone." She wagged her finger at her grandfather as though telling off a naughty child. "What have I told you about the grumpy old man act?"

"What act?" Arnaud said innocently.

They began to bicker, but Avaline was no longer listening. Her focus was entirely on the glove of Korrina's extended left hand, which she had never thought to notice before. There was a small crystal set into it, which had a strangely mottled green-purple colouration.

 _I would never even THINK to describe that as a blurred field of lavender,_ was Avaline's first, slightly hysterical thought.

She felt honestly borderline hysterical and almost burst out laughing. But really? It had been right under her nose, all this time?

Avaline didn't even really realise that Korrina and Arnaud had stopped talking until Korrina waved her hand in front of Avaline's face, making her blink. "Um. Sorry."

"That's okay," Korrina said gently.

"Her research into mega evolution seems to be coming along well, you said." Arnaud folded his arms with both eyebrows raised. "I'm thinking about telling her, you said."

"Shut up, old man."

"I was reading an old diary," Avaline tried to explain.

To her surprise, she was cut off by Arnaud. "Must be great-grandfather's. Frederic?" he added to Avaline. She nodded, feeling a little dizzy, and he shot Korrina a triumphant look. "I told you that if Diantha got to it, somebody else would as well."

 _Diantha?_ "Uh…"

"After he split from his wife, Frederic, my great-grandfather--"

" _Great-_ great-grandfather," Arnaud put in.

Korrina closed her eyes for a long moment and let out a breath. Avaline sometimes got exasperated about her pokemon, so she could sympathise. "My _great-_ great-grandfather," she continued pointedly, "came to live with the previous Arnaud after he split with his wife, along with his two daughters. His eldest daughter, Charlotte, took over the Tower of Mastery when Arnaud retired, and it's been in our family since then."

Avaline felt slightly relieved. "So they _did_ get to be together eventually. That's so cute!"

"Yes, that was Diantha's take away, too," Korrina said dryly.

These references to Diantha were starting to make her itch, but she felt that this wasn't the time to turn into a fangirl. She wanted them to take her seriously. She still had to tell them about Yveltal, how important it was that people _know._ "I found some more mega stones, too!" Avaline said, thinking that she should make clear that she'd brought _something_ concrete to the table. "Well, a friend of Professor Sycamore's found them out in Glittering Cave, but..."

Arnaud's eyes glittered with interest. "Oho! This is further than Korrina has gotten in three years of being the official Master of mega evolution!"

Before Korrina could do more than open her mouth for a retort, Ariel made a sudden gruff bark. He was holding a small box, though Avaline had no idea where it had come from. He must have fetched it while they were distracted. She still wasn't entirely recovered from the shock of suddenly meeting the heirs of mega evolution _who were also_ the descendants of Frederic DuBois, so it took her another short bark to realise that he was giving the box to _her_.

Avaline took the lid off carefully. Inside, there was a spherical crystal, clear except for the twist of colour in the centre. She recognised it immediately. "Lucarionite?"

Ariel nodded approvingly and came to stand at her shoulder. Avaline had no idea what was going on and looked up helplessly.

Korrina's expression was pained, but she made an effort to summon some kind of smile. "Oof. How embarrassing. My own lucario chooses a near stranger over me."

Avaline was totally lost by now. "Huh?"

"Ariel wants to travel with you," Korrina said, enunciating every word carefully.

Avaline blinked at her. She looked at Ariel, somehow expecting to hear some sort of disagreement, but he just nodded solemnly. The lucarionite, still in its box, felt suddenly heavy in her hands. Of course, she thought, she would be delighted to have Ariel become one of her pokemon. But it felt also like she was accepting much more than that. A legacy? A promise?

She felt the presence of Ariel standing at her back very clearly. Avaline thought again of the story about Yveltal; the duty of the heirs of mega evolution. Hadn't she vowed then that she would do her best to make sure that story was passed down, so they could be ready for the next time Yveltal was due to appear? She hadn't thought she would be helping quite so directly, then. But didn't that mean she had to accept?

Avaline was even more uncertain than she had been when she first came to Kalos, when she fought her first Gym Battle - inadequate; 'no, you must have gotten the wrong person'. But she'd conquered those challenges and proven that she was talented.

Even aside from her feelings about mega evolution, Avaline felt as though she was stealing something precious away from Korrina that she didn't deserve, even though she could clearly see that Ariel had chosen to go with _her_ of his own free will. She remembered how hard it had been to leave Sunny behind, and she wanted to be able to offer something as encouragement, or sympathy, or simply an apology.

She couldn't find the right words to express any of it and so she just nodded, slowly, and somehow sensed that Ariel was glowing with pride - and so was Queenie, at her other shoulder, her stalwart supporter through everything.

 _That's right. I'm not on my own. I have all my team behind me._ Ariel and Queenie; and Senshi's quiet determination; Atlas' strength and desire to prove himself; Brittany's friendliness and helpful nature; even little Johto's sincere enthusiasm.

And with all of them, Avaline suddenly felt like she could do anything. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Current team:  
> Frogadier (M) - Senshi  
> Beedrill (F) - Queenie  
> Charmeleon (M) - Atlas  
> Spritzee (F) - Brittany  
> Eevee (M) - Johto  
> Lucario (M) - Ariel


	12. To The Future

That moment of realisation and determination seemed to last for a long time. But eventually there were also practicalities to deal with.

Most surprisingly to Avaline, despite having the lucarionite (and the other mega stones in her possession), she wouldn't be able to actually use the power to mega evolve for some time, because Korrina and Arnaud had no spare key stone to give her.

"Don't worry too much," Arnaud said cheerily. "You can have mine when I'm dead!"

Korrina gave him a dark look, whether for the unhelpful advice or the off-colour joke, Avaline wasn't sure.

"Frederic talked about finding a third one..." But Avaline already had an idea who it might belong to.

"It's in use." Korrina smiled. "I believe you've already met her, in fact."

She led her to a room upstairs, where Avaline was less than surprised to see Diantha, sitting on a threadbare sofa and drinking coffee out of a mug with a chip in the rim. She still managed to look elegant. Diantha was just too perfect.

"Avaline!" she said, waving to Queenie as well. "What brings you to-"

"She knows about mega evolution," Korrina said bluntly. She near-collapsed next to Diantha and Avaline scrambled to find a chair to pull up. "Ariel gave her his lucarionite."

"Oh." Diantha regarded Korrina with a soft expression that seemed to encompass everything that Avaline had wanted to say with a mere look. She took her hand and squeezed it gently.

"It's okay," Korrina said, after a few moments. She did seem more relaxed. "Anyway, I'm still half convinced he wants to see if he can be the first pokemon to have two different listings in the Hall of Fame."

"Hall of Fame?" Avaline asked.

"When someone wins the Championship, their pokemon team also gets recorded - on a plaque in the Hall of Fame," Diantha said. "They have it all on a computer database now, too, but that's not as exciting."

"Oh, it sounds kind of similar to what we had in Johto," Avaline said. "But if Ariel was in twice, that would mean you're the…"

She stopped. A dreadful feeling of embarrassment crept over her. Korrina, Diantha, and even Ariel stared at her. Avaline's face started to flush in anticipation.

"...The Champion, yes," Korrina said.

Avaline knew what she was going to say the exact moment that Korrina opened her mouth, and she had already pulled her hat down in front of her face and let out a wail. _"Why does this keep happening to me?!_ "

"...This keeps happening?"

Avaline just let out a small noise. By now she was curled up in a small ball on the floor, hoping that it would swallow her up if she lay there long enough. How embarrassing! At least last time she hadn't actually _been in front of Diantha directly!_ Ugh, she could just about die of shame. She could feel something solid patting her gently on the back and assumed it was Queenie. Avaline's only response was a small noise of despair.

"Well… you only moved to Kalos recently!" She looked up to see Diantha giving her a weak smile. "So of course there would be, uh, things you didn't know."

It was a valiant attempt at comfort, but even Diantha's talents as an actress couldn't conceal the incredulous tone. Avaline seriously considered hiding under her hat _forever._

Korrina cleared her throat. "...Anyway, Grandfather and I will get Avaline up to speed; I know you'll be busy with the Gym. I just wanted Avaline to know she can come to you if she has any que-"

"No, no," Diantha said. "I should stay! It'll be easier hearing from someone who's also new to mega evolution."

" _Diantha."_ She flinched at Korrina's tone. "How many days are you behind on your Gym schedule?"

"...Three?"

"Four," Avaline corrected. "My friend Calem couldn't get in until Saturday."

"See?" Korrina shook her head. "You know it's just going to keep piling up if you go off on some other mad adventure."

"The last one was not a 'mad adventure'!" Diantha replied hotly. "I think those two fossil pokemon are really coming along now!"

Korrina considered this. "Okay," she allowed, "but what about that tour of the pokeball factory? Hm? Or the time you decided to visit every restaurant in Lumiose City in the same day?"

Avaline saw a world famous actress, Gym Leader, and sponsor of several charities, pout and cross her arms like a naughty child. "Well, there's just so much pressure coming back to that kind of backlog! It takes the fun out of battling if it happens back to back like that. Not to mention that the trainers expect a lot of commentary and I just don't have the energy to keep that up for three days straight..."

Maybe she wasn't completely perfect after all?

Korrina let out a fake cough that sounded a lot like 'four'. Diantha glared at her, but she was unapologetic. "I did tell you to take the eighth Gym spot. Not as many trainers get that far, so there would be a whole lot less work for you."

"I know," Diantha said, sighing, "but it seemed rude to take it from Wulfric. He was so kind to me when I got my badge from him, and I know how hard he's worked to be considered the strongest Gym Leader in Kalos..."

 _Then again,_ Avaline thought, _she is still ninety five percent perfection, so..._

"I guess I'd better join the queue," she mumbled. She wasn't sure how exactly she was going to explain all of this to Calem and Shauna. Go into the archives for ten minutes and then suddenly the secret of mega evolution is solved _and_ she had a new lucario and maybe would be able to mega evolve when she found her own key stone? ( _Or when Arnaud dies!_ her brain chimed in rather morbidly.) But she was definitely going to miss out the part where she didn't know Korrina was the Champion. Yep.

"Why don't you hold off on making an official challenge until after you find your own key stone?" Diatha said with a smile. "It would be lovely to be able to battle you when you can use mega evolution. And it would be good practice for you, too!"

"It _would_ be nice to be able to go all out against someone new." Korrina laughed and nudged Diantha who let out a small huff of annoyance, but from their grins, Avaline thought they were only half joking.

"You... really think I can find another key stone?" After all, they apparently hadn't discovered another one in the last a hundred and fifty years.

"I think you have a good chance," Korrina said. "We have some documents here at the Tower - notes from my many greats grandfather and some other things we've added or ruled out over the years - that should be of use to you." She shrugged. "To be honest, our main problem is that we attract to much attention - after the original Arnaud, the one in the diary, left the Tower to my great-grandmother, she became very famous-"

"She was one of the biggest trainers of her day and one of the only women!" Diantha blurted. "And she specialised in fighting type pokemon too, which weren't considered suitable for young ladies at the time! I finally managed to get Korrina and Arnaud to agree to making a biopic of her and I'm just _so_ excited-"

Korrina cleared her throat. Diantha blushed and motioned for her to continue. "It _is_ very exciting, but the point I'm trying to make is that since then, my family haven't really been very... _inconspicuous._ If we were to sponsor a dig, or to make our own investigation, it would definitely be noticed."

"Would that be such a bad thing? Does mega evolution _need_ to be a secret?"

Korrina and Diantha shared a look. After a moment, Korrina sighed and went on. "We have considered coming clean about the whole thing. Diantha has been suggesting it for years. But… in the past people were still quite suspicious of some of the strange phenomenon that happened around pokemon. Did you know that for many years people argued that lucario was a separate, albeit related, evolutionary line to riolu, because people didn't believe that the bond between a trainer and pokemon could cause a pokemon to evolve?" Korrina's expression was solemn. "And crobat, for example, was thought to be some kind of mutant crossbreed, and trainers who were found with one could be prosecuted and have their right to train pokemon _at all_ revoked. Prior to that, the rumours were that crobat was an unnatural, forced evolution caused by conspiring with supernatural forces."

Avaline winced. She'd heard that pokemon who evolved through their connections to their trainers were not well understood until relatively recently, of course, but she hadn't realised that it was actually seen in a negative light. "I guess that for mega evolution the reaction would've been even worse," she said aloud. She was thinking of some of the transformations that Frederic described in his diary. Even _she_ thought it sounded outlandish and weird, and she actually knew that mega evolution was real! "But science has come on a lot now, right? I mean, we still don't completely understand pokemon, but nobody would think that mega evolution was unnatural..."

Korrina nodded. "We don't think so either, which is why Diantha's arguments keep working on us so well." Diantha beamed shamelessly. "But, even if we did tell everyone about mega evolution, I don't know that it would make that much difference - I mean, we were going to ask _you_ to be our successor and we didn't even have a stone to give you. Mega evolution would always be very exclusive for that reason alone."

"I suppose so..." Avaline said. "Still, doesn't that mean it also wouldn't do any harm to let people know? They might not be able to do it but they would know that it was possible. It might help us understand pokemon better!"

This time, Korrina hesitated, and Diantha smoothly took up the conversation. "I understand how you feel, Avaline. But Arnaud and Korrina worry that if scientists were able to study mega evolution, they might come up with some way to reproduce it artificially. If that _were_ to happen, it would open up the power of mega evolution to lots of trainers not necessarily responsible enough to handle it. Mega evolution is an enormous strain on the body. It has killed pokemon in the past, or left them with permanent damage. And, in a different way, it's dangerous to trainers, as well. Part of the energy for the transformation comes from the trainer, so it's not uncommon for them to faint after use, which leaves them vulnerable to attack. It's been known to trigger heart attacks. Whilst your pokemon is mega evolved, it's like an adrenaline rush. But that means you get careless."

"That's how Arnaud's mother died," Korrina said, her mouth set in a grim line. "The original Arnaud, I mean. His mother was injured during a battle, but she didn't notice because of the effects of mega evolution. She bled to death afterwards."

"Not only that, but mega evolution makes pokemon extremely dangerous. It's not just that it's a significant power boost that can be hard to control. It also alters the pokemon's mindset."

Ariel made a high-pitched whine, making Avaline jump. Queenie gave him a very careful pat on the shoulder with one of her spikes.

"How?" Avaline asked, remembering again the enormous chains and whips that Dr. Albain had found at the dig. A shiver ran up her spine.

"It affects each pokemon differently," Diantha said. "To be honest, we can't really say how every pokemon would be affected, since we know so little about which pokemon can mega evolve. But…"

Korrina gave Ariel a sad look. "For lucario, it essentially blocks their empathy. Without their trainer telling them, they won't have any regard for the other pokemon's pain, and simply won't stop fighting until their opponent is dead. " She seemed to be watching carefully for Avaline's reaction, but Avaline could only blink at her. "We know it can be more or less severe for the individual pokemon. Ferdy - that's Ariel's brother - has always been better at emotionally distancing himself from fights. He manages mega evolution better than Ariel, and can control his own reactions to an extent. I don't think he really _feels_ bad for the opponent, but he can remember that he's not in his right mind, and act accordingly. Ariel… struggles with that, sometimes."

Ariel wouldn't meet Avaline's eye, so she took his hand instead. "Well, I won't make Ariel do it if he doesn't want to."

"No, but you should learn how to manage him in case of emergencies." Korrina sighed. "I guess the point is moot until you can discover your own key stone. Regardless, for now, we'd prefer mega evolution to be kept secret."

Avaline nodded. Poor Ariel. And the other pokemon who had suffered because of mega evolution. She liked to think that people could be responsible with the power of mega evolution, but if it was as dangerous as Korrina and Diantha said, it would only take one mistake for something extremely serious to happen. Even if they tried to set up safeguards to protect pokemon and trainers, there was no telling what would happen in the future. It reminded her of the three hundred years until Yveltal's possible return and knowing that, even if she did everything she could, it was still out of her hands. There didn't really seem to be an easy answer here, either.

"I hope we didn't scare you," Diantha said, smiling gently. "Mega evolution isn't something to be taken lightly, but with practise, you should be able to handle it. I think Pirouet quite enjoys the challenge of limiting herself."

Like she, too, had sensed Avaline's depressing train of thought, Korrina smiled and clapped her on the shoulder. "I wouldn't worry too much about it now! We still have a long time. Perhaps we can work out something between us. You never know what the future might hold."

 _You never know._ Funny that to Avaline that seemed worrying whilst to Korrina it sounded hopeful. Maybe she was just a control freak?

...But maybe that also meant that they could find the answer better together.

"Okay, then I agree with you for now. And I guess you don't want me to tell Professor Sycamore either, because you probably would've already told him by now if you'd wanted to," Avaline said.

"That's right."

Diantha added, "I do trust Augustine personally, but..."

"No, that's okay, I understand." Avaline took a deep breath. "But I'd like to tell my friends."

She was relieved that they didn't immediately say no, although she could from the downturn of her mouth that Korrina didn't like the idea.

"It's not just me who's been investigating mega evolution. They've worked hard, too." If anything, she thought they'd done the _expected_ amount of work, and Avaline, in retrospect, had gone totally overboard. "Even if you don't think it's right to go public with mega evolution yet, we can still study it ourselves. Maybe that will give us more information to make that decision with. I know we're still young, but Calem already knows a lot about pokemon, and Shauna wants to become a scientist like her dad. I think I could be much more effective as the 'Master' of mega evolution-" It felt wrong to use the term when she'd barely touched the surface, but that was the titled Arnaud had used. "-if I had their support."

Korrina's face softened. "When you put it like that, I guess it would be selfish of me to say no, when I've had my grandfather and Diantha to support me. Alright, you have my blessing to tell your friends."

"I'd like to meet them!" Diantha said.

"This isn't an excuse for you to skip your Gym battles, is it?"

Diantha's face fell.

 

 

Calem and Shauna were surprisingly calm about the whole thing. Well, Shauna wasn't exactly _calm,_ but she didn't react to the parts Avaline expected her to. Mega evolution confirmed to be real? Diantha in on the secret? Ariel deciding to join Avaline? Nothing. Victoire's story about Yveltal, on the other hand…

"Oh, Ava, is this why you were so depressed?" Shauna hugged Avaline. "You should've said something!"

Calem wasn't so effusive, but he nodded firmly.

Avaline ducked her head. "Sorry."

"At least you came to your sense eventually." Calem nudged Shauna. "You should probably let go now so Avaline can breathe."

Telling her pokemon went nearly as well. There was a tense moment when Atlas walked up to Ariel, sizing him up, and she worried he might try to start a fight. But then Atlas caught sight of Johto ready to pounce on Ariel and seemed to think better of it. He snorted smoke through his nose and went to calm the little eevee down. Maybe Atlas was trying to set a good example? Avaline made sure to thank him later for being so responsible. He glowed with pride.

Korrina eventually marched Diantha to Shalour City Gym herself, despite her protests.

Calem sighed. "I bet I don't even get to skip the queue, do I?"

"I doubt it," Shauna said, "but I think Korrina would give you an autograph if you asked nicely."

He wavered, but then shook his head. "I think I'll wait until I beat her at the League. What about you, Avaline?"

In all honesty, it still hadn't really sunk in that Korrina was a legitimately famous person in Kalos. "Uh..."

"Don't think I'll let you beat me to the Championship just because of mega evolution. Not that it will make much difference, anyway, since Korrina obviously couldn't use it in a public match."

Shauna rolled her eyes. "Priorities, Calem."

Avaline had never seriously thought about battling the Champion and Elite Four, and now it seemed like it would be a bad idea to take a position so much in the public eye, like Korrina. She said as much to Calem and he frowned at her. He looked like he was about to say something when a hand clapped her on the shoulder; Avaline let out a startled squeak.

"I quite agree!" Arnaud said loudly, glancing around the room.

Shauna coughed. "Korrina went to walk Diantha back to the Gym."

"Oh." He seemed disappointed. "Well… it's a sensible approach all the same. I had high hopes that Diantha would take over my research duties, but she insisted on becoming even more famous than my granddaughter. What a pair they are."

Shauna leaned over and whispered in Avaline's ear, "Do you think Diantha and Korrina are a couple?"

"I… think so?" She supposed people would gossip if they were open about it, given how famous they were. "I don't think they want to draw more attention to themselves, though."

Shauna mimed zipping her lips shut and smiled.

Arnaud regarded them with a knowing expression. "Since Korrina left before we got to the best part, why don't I show up what I've put together from the Tower's archives?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Current team:  
> Frogadier (M) - Senshi  
> Beedrill (F) - Queenie  
> Charmeleon (M) - Atlas  
> Spritzee (F) - Brittany  
> Eevee (M) - Johto  
> Lucario (M) - Ariel


	13. Precipice

Arnaud, Avaline thought dizzily, made her overzealous research attempts look positively lazy by comparison. He had at least a dozen maps of various ages - she'd lost count at some point - with accompanying detailed notes of likely sites relating to mega evolution, based of the Tower's records and his own reading. He was gratified, he said, to learn that some mega stones had been discovered in Glittering Cave, since that was one of the areas he'd highlighted.

She couldn't keep up with him at all. Luckily, Shauna was able to follow along and make notes. "It's like listening to Daddy when he really gets going," she said. She patted Avaline's arm. "You get used to this sort of thing eventually."

They didn't see much of Calem, who was busy training to face Diantha.

With Shauna's help, Avaline  _did_  manage to understand the gist of things. When they eventually left the Tower, after Calem had earned his badge from Diantha, it was with a list of likely sites she was to investigate. Arnaud had been very insistent about getting daily updates. Korrina had rolled her eyes and talked him down to weekly. It felt very much like being assigned homework.

Diantha and Korrina came to see them off at the gates to Shalour City. Diantha's travelling fans openly stared at them. Avaline regretted her pixie cut for the first time, as it meant she couldn't hide her face. It didn't help that Brittany seemed to think they were  _her_ fans, or maybe just that she would be able to win them over if she was cute enough, and was sitting on top of Avaline's hat singing and dancing.

Coumarine City was extraordinarily pretty and very green - Calem said it was the work of the Gym Leader, Ramos, who specialised in grass types and had wanted the city to feel comfortable for his pokemon - but Avaline very quickly grew tired of having to get the monorail to visit the market and then back again to return to the Pokemon Centre. Avaline had to argue a little to get Leader Ramos to battle her, since she was supposed to have Diantha's Badge by now, but she made up an excuse of Diantha wanting to battle her when her mum could watch and he eventually allowed it.

Avaline had left their home phone number with Diantha and her mum called her two days later.

_"Argh! You might have TOLD me you'd left my number with the best actress of all time, I answered the call thinking it was you and said, 'And what bloody time do you call this?' Do you know how embarrassed I am right now?"_

Avaline told her about meeting Korrina without knowing she was the Champion and Mum felt better after that. She spent the rest of the phone call gushing about how lovely Diantha was and how they were going to meet for tea together in Santalune City. Avaline just barely restrained herself from making a joke about excuses to get out of Diantha's Gym backlog.

Ariel was clearly very used to being out of his pokeball. It took him a while to stop pouting before she asked him to go back in so somebody else could have a turn. He tried to suggest that she have multiple pokemon out at once - or, that was what  _Avaline_ thought he'd said, but it must have come out badly, because suddenly Senshi, Queenie, Atlas, and Johto were all making a show of force at Ariel, who responded with a growl. Brittany puffed herself up as large as she could and went around bouncing on everyone's heads, making a ceaseless, high pitched noise that made everyone (including Avaline) cover their ears.

It averted a fight, but left Avaline extremely confused about what Ariel had done to cause such offence. She decided it might be best not to let him interact with anyone one-on-one for a while. Brittany, at least, didn't seem to mind him, and Queenie got over the insult within a few days. Avaline expected Atlas to hold on to a grudge for a while, but he mainly ignored Ariel and spent his free time 'instructing' Johto instead. Ariel was able to make peace with them both by offering to be a victim of Johto's headbutt practise.

Senshi, though, did not forgive Ariel. Avaline tried to talk to him, but she couldn't make any more sense of what had offended him, and the more she encouraged him to be friendly with Ariel, the more he sulked and tried to pick fights. In the end, she just had to keep them separated.  _It's not like Senshi to be so angry like this…_ It wasn't that surprising that introducing a Champion-trained pokemon, far stronger than anyone else on her team, hadn't gone over completely smoothly, but Senshi was the last one she'd expected to hold a grudge. Eventually, she had to let it go and hope they would be able to work it out between themselves. Her pokemon were advanced enough now that she couldn't micromanage them all the time - she had to let them negotiate between themselves. It wasn't exactly unusual for there to be personality clashes on a team, but Avaline wanted them all to love each other as much as she did. Maybe that was selfish.

 

 

The Lumiose Badlands lay up ahead and, whilst not the longest route in Kalos, Calem stressed that it was one of the toughest. More rangers patrolled it than any other route, and still trainers were injured there every year. Calem said that nobody had died for a while. Avaline nearly made a joke about that not being as reassuring as he thought, but from his serious expression, she thought that was the point. She was a little put out that he felt the need to address  _her,_ but not Shauna, but she promised not to wander off.

"I'll even wear my practical jeans," she added, and was rewarded with a smile.

His lecture turned out to be unnecessary, anyway, because they weren't able to leave Coumarine City due to a sandstorm - a continuation of the bad weather they'd heard about from Professor Sycamore, except things seemed to have gotten worse, not better. Shauna, whose dad had done his PhD and post-doctoral thesis on how pokemon could affect the weather, tried to find out more details from the Rangers but was turned away, and was extremely grumpy as a result.

The sandstorm refused to let up. As the wait began to drag on, Avaline started to feel cranky, too. The Centre was beginning to get crowded; two new girls had been added to Shauna and Avaline's room on camp beds. They seemed nice enough, but it only increased the feeling of being closed in. Avaline found herself compulsively reading Arnaud's notes on the Badlands, which were one of the areas he'd identified as of particular interest. Apparently, the handful of maps that survived the Great Civil War suggested the Badlands had been here for thousands of years, although they were smaller and more isolated then. They were considered a geological mystery, as the soil in the surrounding areas was good. Arnaud's theory was that the Badlands had originally been used as a battle ground for mega evolved pokemon, and later ground types had moved into the area and prevented it from being reclaimed by trees and shrubs, gradually expanding the Badlands as Lumiose City grew larger and cut down more and more of the surrounding forest.

The urge to investigate made being trapped in Coumarine City even more unbearable, but every time Avaline set the notes aside, she found herself picking them up again later.

Even Calem was beginning to get antsy and irritable. Avaline had tried battling with him to divert some of their restlessness, but it just seemed to make him more wound up, and he started spending his evenings working on battle strategies instead of talking. As reserved as Calem was, it still didn't strike her as a healthy approach.

When Senshi evolved into a greninja after a closely fought match against Calem's blastoise, Miso, Avaline used it as an excuse to treat everyone to dinner. There was nowhere in town where all their pokemon could be out - too many, and many of them too big - so they ended up getting takeout from a pizza place that also did food for pokemon and heading to a local park. The pokemon seemed to enjoy their specialty pizzas, except for Senshi, who only picked at his, and refused to join in the other pokemon at playtime.

"Oh, when did Evert evolve?" Avaline said, admiring Shauna's new sylveon. Evert relished the attention, strutting around with his nose in the air whilst Johto watched with drooping ears.  _Cute!_

"Yesterday," Shauna replied. "Doesn't he look great? The ribbon-feelers are so soft." Evert patted her face with one as she spoke, making her giggle. "Have you thought about Johto's evolution?"

Johto looked at Avaline with enormous eyes.

"Maybe a jolteon?" She got out her pokedex to show Johto a picture. "I had real trouble dealing with Miso, so I thought an electric type might help," she added to Calem.

He shrugged. "I don't know what you're complaining about, you still won every battle bar one."

"I know, but-" Avaline was distracted from replying when Johto jumped onto her lap, poking at the screen of her pokedex with his paw. Atlas came to look over her shoulder. She wasn't sure how well he could actually see the small screen - his eyesight was not that great as a charmeleon - but after a moment he nodded.

Johto took it as approval and started yipping excitedly, licking Avaline's face. She laughed and pushed him away. "Not right now, silly, we have to get to Lumiose City so I can buy a Thunder Stone."

His ears drooped in disappointment, but he seemed incapable of being sad for long, and after a moment, he started a game of tag with Brittany. Atlas half-heartedly waved a claw at them when they started climbing on top of him; he was lying on his front, basking in the sun. He'd probably eaten too much. Eventually, Ariel walked over and picked up Johto and Brittany, who found it hilarious fun and started to climb him. Ariel was making the gruff barking she'd come to recognise as laughter, so she didn't need to distract them.

Queenie was still busy inspecting all the flowerbeds. When they'd first arrived she'd very excitedly brought Avaline a yellow rose and then slunk away, embarrassed, when Calem said you probably weren't supposed to pick them. Now she seemed to be acting as a flower tour guide for some of Shauna's and Calem's pokemon, including the extremely sceptical Tulip the ivysaur.

Then there was Senshi. He'd been sullen and withdrawn since the argument with Ariel, exacerbated by his evolution to greninja, who tended not to be very vocal anyway. He sat beside her, watching everyone else carefully, but never moving to join in.

Avaline touched one of his webbed hands. "Is something wrong?"

Senshi blinked at her and said nothing.

She frowned. This was the problem when pokemon evolved - the little tics and gestures she'd learned to interpret were suddenly different. "Is this still about that argument with Ariel?" The lucario perked up at the sound of his name, but she waved him away. "I'm worried about you, Senshi."

He hunkered down lower and shifted… guiltily?

"Senshi?" But he either couldn't or wouldn't give her any more clues. Avaline sighed. "I don't know why you got upset in the first place, but… I promise Ariel isn't replacing anyone. You're still really important to me." She wrapped her arms around him. "I couldn't do this without  _any_ of you, but I would never have gotten this far without you in particular."

Senshi made a very quiet croak, almost inaudible, and leaned into her touch. He didn't move away immediately, but a little later, when Johto and Brittany had exhausted Ariel, he used a low powered version of his Water Shuriken to play with them, sneaking around the flower beds trying to hit them whilst Johto and Brittany shrieked and barked with glee.

Ariel sat next to Avaline, laughing at their antics. Senshi looked over several times, but he didn't start a fight.  _Progress,_ she thought, breathing a sigh of relief.

 

 

It was a wonderful, relaxing day, but the effect of it soon wore off when there was no sign of the Badlands being cleared for travel. Another girl was added to Avaline and Shauna's room. Shauna was busy with something - she'd become short-tempered and spent most of each day in the city, saying that it was too cramped in the Centre to concentrate, and rarely returning any of Avaline's or Calem's worried texts. Not that Calem himself was much better; he'd had his fill of battling Avaline, he said, and had taken to travelling back up to Fourrage Road to find other trainers to challenge.

Avaline was on the verge of suggesting they change their plans for travel - if only she could ever get the three of them to sit down in the same place to discuss it. After sending three texts each to Shauna and Calem asking to meet up, Avaline sighed and decided it probably wasn't going to work out today, either.

In an effort to find something to do, she'd ended up going over her notes on mega evolution in the Centre's canteen,  _again,_ but somebody in a room above was playing really loud music. Avaline had a headache and the room's atmosphere was beginning to approach murderous, but nobody seemed to have quite enough nerve to go tell them to shut up yet.

Just when Avaline was about to give up and make the dreaded monorail trip to buy some earplugs, she spotted Shauna scanning the room for her. Avaline waved, smiling, but Shauna barely acknowledged her. Avaline gathered up her things and headed over.

"What's up?" she asked.

Shauna just shook her head. "Let's go somewhere else. I already found Calem; he's waiting at the entrance."

She'd found Calem, too? Avaline trailed after the two of them. This was exactly what she'd wanted today, but the atmosphere felt foreboding.

They didn't go far, to a cramped cafe above a furniture shop that had a pleasingly old-fashioned charm about it, dark wood and panelling everywhere. It was a shame it was wasted on their current mood.

After a ordering drinks, they huddled around a table in the corner, next to the window, and Shauna finally seemed to release a breath she'd been holding. She gave them a slightly sheepish look and a grin that made Avaline feel less worried, even though it wasn't quite as bright as her usual expressions and there were bags under her eyes.

"Um..." Shauna seemed to be clutching her mug for support. "So... I've been on the phone to my dad a lot over the past few days. His post-doctoral thesis was on the ability of pokemon to affect the weather, and I was talking to him about this sandstorm because it seems too strange, so he got one of his friends to check it out. He just got back to me and he says that this sandstorm is definitely caused by pokemon!"

Avaline blinked and glanced at Calem, but he was being his usual stoic self. She wouldn't get any cues from him. "...Okay?"

Shauna sighed. "It takes a lot of pokemon to do this sort of thing in a sustained way. For a weather phenomenon of this size and duration, they'd need a coordinated effort across predator/prey lines, which means the pokemon feel that the environment as a whole is being threatened."

"Predator/prey cooperation? But that happens so rarely… I'm not saying you're wrong!" Calem added as Shauna scowled. "It's just… well, the Rangers are still letting the power plant workers through, even if they do need an escort. Maybe the pokemon are overreacting?"

"Daddy said something like that too." Shauna folded her arms. "But I couldn't tell him about Team Flare being after mega evolution."

Avaline perked up. "So you think they're causing trouble here, too?"

"It may  _not_ be them," she said, "but they are interested in mega evolution, and they've been getting more aggressive and disruptive since Glittering Cave."

Avaline opened her mouth.

"No," Calem said.

"I haven't even said anything!" she replied. "Anyway, if we all went-"

"We should just tell Korrina and have her ask the Rangers to look into it," Shauna said. She ran her fingers along the table, not meeting Avaline's eyes. "I mean, I know she isn't officially in charge of them, but if the Champion says she thinks something fishy might be going on, they'll have to investigate, right?"

Avaline was pleased to see, however, that Calem looked less certain than before. He was probably bored of sitting around, too. "Like I said, the Rangers obviously don't think it's that dangerous. Besides, if Team Flare  _are_  after mega stones, the Rangers might not know exactly what they're looking for."

"And Team Flare in Glittering Cave were barely a problem at all," Avaline said. "They might be annoying the pokemon, but unless we run into dozens of them, I don't think we'll need to worry."

Shauna bit her lip. "I don't know…"

"We could at least scout the place out," Calem said. "See if it is Team Flare in the first place. Korrina and Diantha can come later, maybe open an official investigation if we find anything. If we're careful, we shouldn't have to fight anyone at all."

Avaline was bursting with excitement at the idea of being able to do  _anything_ that wasn't sitting in Coumarine City and waiting. When Shauna still looked nervous, she said, "We could ring Korrina and Diantha right now, see what they say." Given how long they'd spent talking about the dangers of mega evolution, she was sure they'd want to keep it out of Team Flare's hands.

At last, Shauna smiled and nodded. "If they think it's not too dangerous, I'm sure we'll be fine."

To Avaline's relief, Korrina and Diantha gave their approval. They warned them not to do anything too reckless, but since they - and Arnaud - would be coming to the Badlands only a few hours behind them, she didn't think it was  _possible_ for the three of them to get into that much trouble.

" _If you can at least narrow down our search area, we'll take care of the problem when we get there. Try not to get involved with Team Flare, though - we don't know the strength of their top members, and if they outnumber you, your strength isn't going to take much difference."_

Dutifully, they all promised to be careful. Then it was a whirlwind of purchasing supplies - goggles, some tough jackets for Avaline and Shauna, scarves that they could pull over their faces to protect them from the sandstorm.

Before an hour had passed, they were scrambling down the steep slope that led into the Badlands, careful not to be noticed by the Rangers.

Avaline smiled. It felt good to finally be doing something.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Current team:  
> Greninja (M) - Senshi  
> Beedrill (F) - Queenie  
> Charmeleon (M) - Atlas  
> Spritzee (F) - Brittany  
> Eevee (M) - Johto  
> Lucario (M) - Ariel


	14. Bad to the Bone

To his chagrin, Calem's compass was thrown off completely by the sandstorm and ground type energies about, whilst Shauna showed that the GPS on her holocaster still worked perfectly, as she'd predicted.

"Of course it works!" She had to shout to be heard over the raging storm. "My daddy designed it to work in _all_ weather conditions, pokemon controlled or not!"

Calem begrudgingly put his compass away.

Maybe having a scientist as a parent was more practical for day to day things, but Avaline was still quietly confident that 'rhyhorn racer' won out in coolness.

They realised that they weren't too far from some of the outstations for the Power Plant, and decided to start investigating those - at least that would be some kind of landmark for they could direct Korrina and Diantha to.

When they got there, they found it empty. Avaline shrugged and turned to go before Shauna grabbed her arm and pointed to a sign that read: 'This station should be manned at all times.'

"Concerning," Calem said. "You don't think something happened to the workers, do you?"

Avaline frowned. "Maybe there's an emergency at the Power Plant? Lumiose had those blackout problems not that long ago."

"They fixed that. Or they said they did." Shauna was still looking at the sign, although it was difficult to guess at what she was thinking under all that protective gear. "...Maybe we should check on the main station, just in case."

If it wasn't an emergency, they were going to get in big trouble for being in the Badlands without permission. Avaline sighed. Why could things never be simple?

Following the map on Shauna's holo caster, they approached the main reception of the power plant, following an ancient river bed. Without speaking, they slowed as they neared. They were close enough that Avaline could just about make out the looming figure of the power plant itself.

She turned to Ariel, gratefully putting her back to the wind. Most of her face was covered, but her cheeks and forehead were stinging. "Sense anything?"

Ariel closed his eyes and let out a deep breath through his nose, focussing.

Then his eyes snapped back open as Shauna let out a cry. Avaline whirled around to see Shauna stumbling and clutching her arms to her chest and a member of Team Flare, wearing protective gear of their usual orange colour. At their side was a houndoom, who tossed its head back and growled.

Calem was already releasing his blastoise, and Avaline had the pleasure of seeing the Flare grunt and their pokemon look suddenly much less smug before she was at Shauna's side.

"It's okay," Shauna said, although she was breathing very shallowly. "It—It was just the shock, I think."

"Are you sure? Maybe your ribs are bruised or..." Avaline touched the area near Shauna's lower ribs and she hissed, flinching away from her touch. But there weren't any slashes in the material of her coat so at least it wasn't bleeding.

"Watch out!" Calem shouted.

Avaline and Shauna burst apart as a golbat rushed past them; Ariel batted it hard as it flew by, but it angled for a turn just in time and the punch barely clipped its wings. Not that it would have done much damage anyway.

Avaline cursed the lack of a Thunder Stone for Johto when Shauna's pikachu burst out of his pokeball. Jolee must have sensed that something was amiss, because he fired off a bolt of lightning towards the golbat. It let out a painful screech and swooped away, aborting its dive at Ariel.

The houndoom was already weakening from Miso's water attacks, growling lowly. It made an effort to headbutt Miso, who merely blinked and blasted the houndoom away again.

Ariel had managed to grab the golbat, too, allowing Jolee to get off a much stronger electrical attack.

The Team Flare saw the fight wasn't going well, and started to make a slow retreat.

 _Oh no, you don't!_ Avaline ran at the Flare grunt to try to grab them, but they were bigger than she was, and gave her a good solid shove before taking off. Avaline stumbled backwards, trying to regain her footing—

—And her foot met empty air and she was falling. She hit her head against something and saw stars; she felt a sharp pain across her right leg; she scraped her cheek and winced at the feeling of grit getting under her skin - and then she hit the bottom and felt all the breath leave her lungs at once just as a burst of blinding pain came from her hand. She choked on a scream that had no air behind it and shudderingly tried to remember how to breathe, gasping for air like she was drowning.

After a while the pain in her hand seemed to fade. She let out a breath through her nose. Shaking her head, she must be in the dried up river bed. _Stupid, to forget it was right there._ She made the mistake of putting weight on the hand to get up and fell back down with a gasp. Gritting her teeth, she stumbled upright using her good hand.

The top of the bank was over twice her height. There was no way she would've been able to climb it even without an injured hand. She cradled it to her chest and frowned.

Shauna and Calem peeked over the top.

"Are you okay?" Calem called. "We can wait for Diantha—"

Avaline shook her head fiercely. "You have to go after that Team Flare before they warn everyone! It's okay, I'll find another way out!"

Calem hesitated for a moment before his head disappeared. Shauna stayed only a moment longer. She pointed to something behind Avaline. "I think it's a bin! That means there's a safe way down somewhere!"

Shauna pulled back for a moment and then Ariel threw himself over the side of the bank and slid down as though he was surfing, despite the fact it was nearly vertical. _He was trained by a Champion..._

When she glanced back upwards, Shauna gave her a thumbs up and then disappeared. Ariel settled at the bottom looking no worse for wear. He stared at her.

"Don't say anything," Avaline said. "It hurts, okay?"

Ariel made a low crooning sound and patted her shoulder, sniffing the air interestedly. The dried up river bed was protected from the worst of the sandstorm, so Avaline only pulled her scarf back up over her mouth. She winced when the fabric pulled at the scrape on her cheek, but put it out of her mind for now. Gingerly, she touched her head where she'd hit it, but her hand came away clean, and she didn't feel disoriented or dizzy, so it probably wasn't that bad.

She took a deep breath. The great thing about being a pokemon trainer was that, short of unconsciousness, there wasn't much that could put her out of action. Her team could take care of anything.

Time to press on.

Avaline didn't know how Shauna had identified the sand-covered lump as a bin, because she was dubious right up until the moment she uncovered half of it in a tiny sand avalanche. But there it was, and as she uncovered more, there was even a little sign giving a short history of the area... and mostly importantly, a map to the set of stairs which had been carved into the bank. It seemed to come out right behind the power plant.

She snapped a picture with her holocaster so she wouldn't have to remember the three different turns, then nodded to Ariel. He followed her obediently until the second intersection, where Avaline took several steps before she noticed that he was no longer at her shoulder.

Her patience was running thin from the throbbing pain in her hand and the embarrassment of having being injured by _Team Flare,_ and she nearly snapped at him. But the words got stuck in her throat when she saw his posture. He was standing statue still, arms folded across his chest, breathing steadily.

The so called "aura" abilities of lucario, Korrina had said, were more likely to be extremely specialised psychic sensing. Tertiary typings were rarely found in public information because the association to the element was already quite weak by then, so there was little to no advantage for a trainer. But lucario were slightly different. It was possible that at some point in the past, the species had had a much stronger affinity for the psychic element, but what _was_ known is that their tertiary typing didn't translate into even a very weak affinity for psychic-type moves, but that the psychic energy was somehow used _internally_ to boost their senses beyond their natural limit.

After a pause, Ariel slowly came out of his stance. He seemed pleased to see her standing there, and inclined his head towards one of the paths - one that led away from the exit.

Avaline was sure Ariel wouldn't suggest it unless it was important. She still worried to think how Calem and Shauna might be doing without her... but surely Diantha and Korrina would arrive soon. Anyway, that Team Flare's pokemon hadn't been very strong at all - even Shauna, who didn't do nearly as much battling as Avaline and Calem, could've beaten him - so it might not take that long. Still, they would worry if she didn't meet up with them...

Ariel watched her imploringly. The only thing that betrayed his nerves was his twitching ears, trying to track whatever noise he had heard in his trance.

Finally, she sighed. "Okay. You're sure that Calem and Shauna will be alright without us?"

Ariel nodded.

"Let's go then," she said, with a silent apology to Shauna and Calem anyway.

They travelled slowly, pausing at every turn off for Ariel to briefly listen. He seemed to know where he was going, but after a few minutes of silence, broken only by the crunch of sand under their feet, Avaline started to feel nervous. What if Shauna and Calem needed her? Shauna's ribs might be bothering her.

She tried not to think too much about her own injuries - not really her cheek, which was only cosmetic, but her hand, which ached intensely and was very swollen. It was beginning to turn an ugly purple. She tried to keep it up by her face holding the scarf over her mouth, remembering that you were supposed to keep injuries like that elevated. But that had the downside that she kept catching glimpses of it out of the corner of her eye. Maybe it was broken?

Avaline forced those thoughts aside when Ariel stopped suddenly at a sharp bend. Instead of listening, he peered around it for a moment before pulling back and nodding.

She took a deep breath to steady herself. "Do you know how many?"

Ariel gave a sort of half shrug.

"Wonderful." Then Avaline had an idea. "Sorry, Brittany, but we need your help."

The spritzee emerged from her pokeball with a little twirl. Her enthusiasm was dampered only slightly upon realising that they were in the sandstorm. She grabbed the end of Avaline's scarf to shelter under whilst on Avaline's shoulder.

"Sorry," she said again. "I just need you to look out for some Team Flare folks - remember we talked about them, the ones in that really ugly orange? - and let me know how many there are and where they are, so we can be safe."

Brittany had been focussing so much on Avaline's directions that she jumped when Ariel also said something to her, a low rumble followed by a soft bark. Avaline was starting to suspect that Ariel had been in human contact for so long that he had actually developed a different language for speaking to humans compared to speaking to his fellow pokemon. That was interesting in its own way, but it meant that she struggled to understand what he was talking about with her other team members.

Whatever he said, though, caused Brittany to puff herself up determinedly and give a high, confident trill. She nuzzled Avaline's ear briefly before floating off. She was so small that she was nearly invisible in the sandstorm.

A few minutes later, Brittany returned, only a little worse for wear. At Ariel's urging, she sketched out a rough guide in the sandy floor, planting her tiny feet in the sand in four different places.

Avaline frowned as she recalled Brittany. _Four of them...?_

But Ariel was nodding, nudging the pokeballs at her belt that contained Senshi, Queenie, and Atlas.

"Ariel? Are you sure?" Even for her team, four opponents was rather a lot.

Ariel snorted stubbornly and held out his fist. Avaline sighed. "Is it really that important?"

Ariel rumbled apologetically but maintained his stance.

Reluctantly, Avaline bumped fists and pulled out the three pokeballs. "I am _so_ holding you responsible for this if it all goes wrong." He seemed pretty confident, though, waiting for her directions. "Anyway. Ambush tactics. Senshi, Queenie and Atlas will surprise them, you... do whatever the important thing is and come back to support. I'll save Johto and Brittany for an emergency. Okay?"

 

 

Avaline had a split second to see that the Team Flare members seemed to be excavating something - this was a _dig?_ \- before everyone burst into a flurry of movement.

Senshi blew one of the Team Flare people head over heels with a blast of water before he could even react; Queenie easily fended off a vivillon with her spikes and stinger; Atlas had already given his opponent, a golbat, a vicious looking burn... and Ariel zoomed in on one particular trench and started to dig.

The last Flare didn't even bother fighting, they simply ran for it, and the others soon followed. Avaline breathed a sigh of relief. She'd been worried that these Team Flare would be stronger than the one at the entrance, but it seemed like it was actually the opposite. Maybe this was just a side-project and they hadn't dedicated that much energy to it?

Shrugging, Avaline turned to where Ariel was still digging. It seemed like he was close to finding something, moving with increasing urgency. Then he made a pleased sound. Carefully, he picked up a small, round object with both paws.

"Did you find a new mega stone?" Avaline asked with interest. If there'd been any doubt that Team Flare were interested in mega evolution-

She froze, staring. Frederic would've been enchanted and probably compared it to primroses or something. _A key stone._ Ariel had found a key stone! A smile spread onto her face without Avaline even meaning it to. She could learn mega evolution! She could—

Ariel found a key stone.

_At Team Flare's dig._

Avaline's face fell. "Holy shit," she whispered. "This is—the power plant is the distraction. This must be—"

She felt the hair on the back of her neck rise. She returned everyone to their pokeballs without saying anything, leaving only Ariel. The key stone went into her bag. Ariel seemed confused, but he followed Avaline when she started to run.

How absurd of her, to just let that Team Flare _go_ , it had been minutes, they must have found someone by now—

Because if Team Flare had been looking for a _key stone_ , Avaline would bet her entire wardrobe those four weaklings were _not_ the ones left in charge.

The sand made her footing precarious, and once she slipped and fell on her injured hand. Her vision went black and she had to bite back a scream. For a long moment she could only breathe steadily, aware of Ariel standing over her.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Avaline mumbled, even though she was now _sure_ that her hand was broken. It might have been her imagination, but the bruise already seemed to be getting darker.

Avaline swallowed. _No time to think about that now._ She pushed herself upright with her good hand, cradling the broken one to her chest. "Ariel, where's the exit?"

Ariel sniffed the air, ears twitching.

A shadow fell over them.

There was barely time for Avaline to widen her eyes before Ariel grabbed her and jumped to the side as something dived at them. Avaline scrambled upright, forcing herself to ignore the throbbing pain from her hand.

A talonflame. They couldn't have picked a better counter to Ariel if they'd tried. And she didn't think any of her other pokemon would be a match for it, judging by its speed and the confident smirk of the trainer riding on its back. She thought it was a woman because of the long hair, which unusually for Team Flare seemed to be pink rather than orange, but most of her face was obscured by large goggles.

Ariel was standing in front of Avaline protectively. But there was no way he could possibly stand up to a fire/flying type with Avaline guiding him. Maybe Korrina, who'd been with lucario her entire life, could have done it.

Still, she had to try. Maybe if she made a big enough noise, Diantha or Korrina would see and come running—they should be close by now. She released Atlas and Senshi. If they worked together, maybe… a fighting retreat—?

Before Avaline could say anything, the talonflame released an enormous blast of fire at them, and she could do little more than shriek in panic and gesture at it. Senshi's blast of water only put out half of it, and Avaline would have been swallowed by the other half if Atlas hadn't shoved her aside, shielding her with his body. The steam that rose up from Senshi's attack was hot enough to blister, and even Atlas shook his head, uncomfortable.

The steam had also obscured their vision for a crucial moment. When it cleared, the talonflame was diving for them again. Avaline's mind had suddenly gone blank. Senshi and Atlas formed a protective wall in front of her. _I'm supposed to be the trainer, why can't I_ _ **think**_.

Ariel seemed to have predicted the talonflame's attack. He threw a Focus Blast against the wall of the river bed maze, at an angle, so that it blasted off in a solid chunk at the talonflame. It let out an ear-piercing shriek as it was thrown off course, and couldn't right itself within the narrow channel and crashed into the opposite wall.

 _If it gets back up again, we're dead,_ Avaline thought. She had to act _now._ "Atlas, _get a wing!_ Senshi, use water shuriken—keep it on the ground!"

Before the Flare trainer could do more than let out a cry of dismay, Atlas was on the talonflame with teeth and claws. It tried to get airborne again, but Atlas was significantly heavier than it, and Senshi was pounding away with greninja's unique water shurikens: weak but fast and impossible for the talonflame to avoid. Senshi could fire off four in a row without pause.

Ariel's clever trick with focus blast had loosened the wall, which was really little more than compacted sand, and buried his legs. Avaline darted over to help dig him out, gritting her teeth against the pain from her injured hand. But she knew that would distract Senshi and Atlas, and they needed all the time they could buy. They just needed _time_.

The wind suddenly turned sharp and overwhelming; the sand around Ariel's feet was abruptly swept away, and Avaline was flattened by Ariel and had all the breath knocked out of her lungs. She coughed out a mouthful of sand whilst Ariel got back to his feet, Senshi crouching over her. She couldn't see the talonflame.

More frighteningly, she couldn't see Atlas.

She forced herself to stand. At first she thought Atlas was… gone—but then she heard the cries from above and her eyes went wide.

Atlas was clinging to the body of the talonflame, the claws of his hind legs buried deep for purchase and his front limbs flailing for a proper grip. He swiped at the trainer on the talonflame's back, trying to dislodge her. She pulled her leg away just in time. The talonflame swooped, twisting in the sky. Atlas slipped. Avaline flinched, but then he started to _glow._

Even from the ground, she could hear the other trainer's shout of alarm. Atlas grew and grew as wings seemed to erupt from his back. The talonflame dropped for a moment before it was able to push Atlas free and gain height. Blood was streaming from its side. Avaline expected to feel bad for it, but she only felt triumphant—Atlas could _fly!_

Atlas roared and went after the talonflame. With its injuries, he was fast enough to catch up, neck outstretched and ready to bite. As he was nearly upon it, it did a barrel roll, knocking him away. Avaline's heart leapt into her throat as Atlas lost height, tumbling through the sky, and the talonflame smoothly turned and dived at Atlas's exposed belly, talons outstretched.

"Senshi!" Avaline hissed urgently, but he shook his head. She cursed. _Too high._

Atlas roared in pain as the talonflame gored him. Avaline let out a strangled cry but couldn't tear her eyes away. He reared up and tried to go for its throat, but the wicked talons just went deeper and there was blood—so much blood. Atlas let out a cry.

They were plummeting towards the ground. Atlas tried to flap his wings to slow their descent but the talonflame twisted its claws until Atlas couldn't do anything but roar in pain. _No no no._

Avaline pushed past Senshi and ran towards the falling pokemon, unable do anything other than call Atlas's name.

They crashed to the ground. Avaline had to throw up her arms to shield her face from the massive wave of sand. When it cleared, the first thing she saw was the talonflame's golden eye.

It started to move, but one of Senshi's water shuriken caught it in the face. It screeched and reared back, trying to find room to take off again, while Senshi harried it. Atlas stirred. Avaline ran to him, touching his head gently. He opened his eyes and, to her horror, he started to stand.

"Atlas!" she shouted, pulling uselessly at his arm. "Atlas, you can't!"

But he ignored her and staggered to his feet, flapping his new wings experimentally. Blood poured from his wounds. His whole belly was red. Avaline pushed at him, but he merely reached down to let a soft _huff_ of warm air in her face. He tensed, as though about to take off.

"Atlas, you'll—" She choked on the last word. Her throat had gone tight and painful and she could barely breathe. She had never really grasped how many _limits_ there were normally on pokemon battles. It was easy to read about how dangerous pokemon were capable of being, but you never really _saw_ it. And what minor injuries there were, a Centre was able to fix up easily.

But this—

She saw Ariel stagger back out of the corner of her eye. The air stank of burnt fur, and half of Ariel's body was blackened and scorched. He lay in a heap, picking himself up limb by limb, each movement an enormous effort.

Atlas saw that the talonflame was distracted and made to spring into the air.

_No more._

Atlas was inside his pokeball before he even realised what was happening. Ariel shook his head, stretching an arm out towards her, but he disappeared too. Senshi's pokeball was in her hand next. _I won't let any of you die for me, I won't_ _ **I won't—**_

But suddenly the pokeball was gone. Avaline blinked. Her hand stung and the pokeball was shattered, pieces of it lying in the dust.

Senshi turned back to watch the talonflame silently. There was already a water shuriken ready in his hands.

"Senshi..." Avaline's voice cracked. This wasn't right. _She_ was supposed to be the one looking after the pokemon, not the other way around. Coming here was all her stupid idea anyway; if not for her, none of them would be hurt.

But Senshi ignored her.

Avaline felt tears come into her eyes as the talonflame bore down on them. _I was useless, Senshi, I'm sorry—_

But at the last moment, the talonflame pulled up. Avaline had only a moment to be confused before an immense pressure hit her all at once, forcing her to her knees. Senshi was at her side in an instant, making a quiet _rrk_ at the back of his throat. Avaline tried to think of something reassuring to say, but it was hard to even draw breath. There was a foul, metallic taste in her mouth.

Slowly, she turned to look over her shoulder.

It was Diantha.

Diantha, looking totally unaffected next to a gardevoir unlike any Avaline had seen before. Diantha said something and the gardevoir gestured; a visible shockwave burst from its arm. Avaline was pressed flat, landing on her injured hand, but she couldn't do more than choke with the pain of it. Senshi made a noise of distress, hovering over her. He didn't seem affected. _Psychic energy_ , she realised. And strong enough to be nearly tangible.

There was a harsh shriek. The noise seemed to linger in the air as the talonflame plummeted to the ground. It had taken everything that Avaline's team could possibly throw at it and shrugged them off, but now it was down from one attack.

_Is mega evolution really…?_

Diantha was here to rescue her. The talonflame had been driven off; they weren't going to die after all. Senshi nudged at her urgently and Avaline's hand curled around his arm. She wasn't sure who was supposed to be comforting who.

Somehow, she didn't feel safe yet.

When the pressure lifted all at once it was like Avaline had been drowning; she gasped for air, coughing. She felt suddenly weightless and light-headed, and when she heard Diantha call her name, it seemed to come from a great distance away. She tried to stand but a wave of dizziness hit her. She only half felt herself falling and consciousness slip away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Current team:  
> Greninja (M) - Senshi  
> Beedrill (F) - Queenie  
> Charizard (M) - Atlas  
> Spritzee (F) - Brittany  
> Eevee (M) - Johto  
> Lucario (M) - Ariel


	15. Recovery

Avaline woke with a start, still expecting to find coarse sand beneath her fingers. Instead, she felt oddly warm and sleepy. _This bedlinen is itchy,_ was her confused thought. Her mouth felt dry and her whole body ached. She sat upright, wincing as all the blood rushed to her head and she used her bad hand to steady herself. It was now looking truly ugly, swollen and purple, darkening nearly to black between her fingers. She felt a little queasy just looking at it, and cradled it to her chest instead. She was in a plain white room, which held a few other beds aside from hers, but no medical equipment like she expected. There was no one else around.

It took a moment for her to sort through her memories and work out how on earth she'd gotten here. Diantha found her… this must be some back room in the Pokemon Centre. It didn't seem like the hospital, at least.

_Where's Senshi?_

He would want to be here; he must be worried about her. Avaline took a deep breath and slowly eased herself off the bed. Her bag was on the floor, so she grabbed that, gripping it tightly. The rest of her team's pokeballs were still in there, and she let out a sigh. Avaline's legs were unsteady. She couldn't possibly have been here for that long, right? She was still dressed in her filthy, sand filled clothes from the Badlands and no one had treated her hand. Senshi would still be here. He had to be.

She half staggered for the door. Her throat was so raw that even breathing hurt, and she wished someone had thought to leave her a glass of water.

The door wasn't locked. The door didn't even _have_ a lock. Avaline felt vaguely uncomfortable for some reason. She heard her heartbeat in her ears when she put her hand on the door handle, and had to take a deep breath to steady herself. No one… no one was there. The Team Flare member with their talonflame was gone. No one was on the other side of the door.

She heard an almighty crash. _Senshi?_

Avaline yanked the door open and nearly fell through it. She was in an empty corridor, but she could hear shouts. To her left, she thought. She began to stumble in the direction of the noise, leaning heavily on the wall for support, gritting her teeth against her discomfort, because Senshi—

 _Don't be ridiculous. You're safe! It's safe here,_ she tried to tell herself. It fell flat against the feeling of Senshi making a final stand, against the remembrance of him telling her without words, _I'd rather die than—_

"Senshi!" she called. It felt like cut glass in her throat to speak, but she forgot the feeling nearly instantly when a familiar figure burst through a door a few feet ahead of her, ripping it off its hinges.

Shouts spilled into the corridor behind Senshi, but Avaline barely heard them. She pushed off the wall and nearly tripped over her own feet in her eagerness to meet him. Senshi caught her and wrapped his limbs around her, making a soft croak.

"It's okay, you're okay," Avaline said, not sure if she was comforting Senshi or herself. Her eyes were thick with tears already and her breath hitched. She hadn't realised how much tension she'd been carrying until she saw him again.

"Avaline!" someone cried.

It took her a moment to place the voice. "Arnaud?"

Korrina's grandfather gave her a tired smile. "You should be resting," he told her, but he didn't sound very stern.

"No one was there," Avaline said.

"Well, it's probably for the best," he said, patting her shoulder, which was one of the few places on her body that _didn't_ hurt. "Your other pokemon are doing well, but this one was starting to get restless without you, and we couldn't return him to his pokeball."

"It got broken." He raised an eyebrow, inviting further explanation, but the thought of putting that moment into words, that Senshi broke it himself because… Avaline cringed away from the thought.

The corridor was starting to get a busier, two nurses and an assistant pokemon hovering. Avaline could just about see them under Senshi's arm. The corridor seemed smaller with them in it, the walls seemed to press in, _trapped—_

Avaline took a deep, shuddering breath, ignoring the stab of pain in her throat again, and buried her face against Senshi's chest. _Safe. We're safe now. Atlas and Ariel too._ She still wanted to see them.

Senshi's skin felt unnaturally dry, almost parched. This close to him, she could hear that his breathing was laboured. Of course. Even apart from the fight, with no pokeball to go back to, Senshi would've had to leave through the sandstorm.

"It's okay now," Avaline said, forcing herself to separate from Senshi. "You have to let the nurses treat you."

Senshi shrank back a little.

"It'll be okay," she repeated. "I won't be far. I need you to get better."

With a little more coaxing, Senshi eventually agreed to follow the nurses and assistant chansey back into the treatment room. The door was hanging on by only one hinge and they didn't even bother attempting to close it.

"Don't worry, you won't be charged for that," Arnaud said.

Was he trying to joke? Avaline wasn't sure if it was the fact that her brain still felt fuzzy but she didn't feel like laughing at all. She said nothing.

Arnaud took her by the arm gently. "Come on now, let's go back to your room. Someone was supposed to come look at your hand…"

"Where's Diantha?" Avaline asked suddenly, feeling a little guilty that it hadn't occurred to her to ask before. Then again, with the power of her gardevoir… she very seriously doubted whether _any_ number of Team Flare grunts could pose a danger to her.

"She went off with that reckless granddaughter of mine, chasing after the member of Team Flare that you battled." He snorted softly. "Not that I think they'll find anything. Someone of that power level will be too important to their plans; they must've had some kind of escape plan. Now, the rank and file, they might be able to round up some of those…"

Avaline let his words wash over her without taking very much of it in.

 

 

Some time later, with her hand wrapped in a support—it might have to have a cast, the nurse said, but she'd need to go to hospital for that, and Avaline wasn't ready to leave her pokemon yet. After she had managed to convince Senshi it was safe enough to go into his new pokeball and reassured Ariel that she was unharmed, she had a more difficult challenge.

Atlas's injuries were severe enough that they couldn't be treated by just running him through the Centre's machines. Everyone had been stepping somewhat delicately around the subject of the attack—the fight. Pokemon lived and worked around people of all ages every day, and it was frightening to think about the power that they were capable of wielding if they wanted to turn it against you. Avaline didn't want to think about it and she had nearly been burnt to death. There was a reason that the punishments for trainers who used pokemon to attack others were more severe than any other crime.

Eventually one of the senior nurses simply told Avaline bluntly, "Given what happened, if anyone else is in there when he comes out of that pokeball, he's liable to attack them. And I won't let any of my people in there to treat him until you can give me a guarantee they won't be in danger."

No pressure, then.

Avaline was half surprised when she let Atlas out of his pokeball and a charizard came out. Of course she had seen him evolve but—well, she wasn't used to it yet. He was taller than her now and made the fire proof room that had been set aside for them look cramped. His head nearly reached the ceiling as he swung his head about, eyes wide. Smoke billowed out of his nostrils.

"Atlas! Atlas, it's okay, I'm here!"

He looked at her but didn't respond, still peering around. His tail swished and the flame on the end of it grew larger. The wounds on Atlas's belly weren't as bad as before, seeming shallower and less… inflamed, but they were oozing blood again and made Avaline's stomach turn over just to look at them. She had never seen any wound on a pokemon before that couldn't be healed by the Centre's machines. And he'd still tried to fly.

Avaline swallowed heavily. She took a step forward and put her hands on his side. He was hot to the touch, of course, most fire types were. Atlas still didn't look at her. He was tense, expecting someone to jump out at any moment.

She tried again. "Atlas, it's alright. We're safe now. Look!"

Avaline showed him her hand with the supportive glove. Atlas sniffed at it cautiously. He twisted his head at an awkward angle to look her in the eye.

Avaline stroked his head gently. She wasn't exactly sure what Atlas was asking, but she knew what she wanted to say. "It just needs to heal now." She rested her head against his. "And so do you."

Atlas let out a deep grumble and a warm puff of air over her head. Then, finally, carefully – he relaxed.

Avaline had lost nearly all sense of time whilst in the Centre, and had never been exactly sure how long had passed since she'd been taken there anyway—it hadn't been important enough to ask—so when she eventually was able to persuade herself that it was okay to leave Atlas, Ariel and Senshi for treatment and go to the hospital, she was surprised to realise that it was nearly midday.

She blinked for a moment in the bright sunshine of the Centre's lobby, feeling like something was fundamentally wrong.

"Ava!" Shauna wailed, throwing her arms around Avaline and starting to sob. "I was so w-worried! Is everyone okay?!"

She felt herself start to tear up as well. "We're—We're okay," she said. Although it didn't feel completely true. "Everything's going to be fine," she added.

Shauna just hugged her tighter. "I'm sorry," she said, in a small voice. "I shouldn't have left you."

"No!" Avaline said. "That's not—you didn't have any reason to think that…"

_To think that I might do something totally reckless and nearly get myself and my whole team killed._

"You're always so brave." Shauna sniffed. "G-Going off on your own."

"It wasn't brave," Avaline whispered. "It was silly. I was overconfident."

Shauna broke apart from their hug and gave her a weak smile. Her eyes were red and there were dark circles under them. Had she even slept? Avaline felt guilty for not thinking of her friends sooner. "I think it was brave," Shauna whispered.

Avaline took Shauna's hand and squeezed it gently. She didn't know what she'd done to deserve a friend like Shauna. She'd only lived in Kalos for a month or two but she felt like they'd been friends their whole lives. "I need to go to the hospital to get my hand checked out," she said. "Will you come with me?"

When they got to the waiting room, Shauna ended up falling asleep on Avaline's shoulder. It was cute, but it made Avaline think gloomily about how much she must have put her friends through. She hadn't seen Calem yet. He was probably mad at her, and he had every right to be. He hadn't wanted them to go into the Badlands at all—it was _her_ idea for them to go, _her_ overconfidence. She'd thought she could handle anything, because, what, because she'd been successful in the Battle Chateau? Maybe it was full of the best trainers but it was still _regulated._ More regulated than normal battles, if anything. Of course a criminal organisation wouldn't hold back in a battle in the same way. For fuck's sake—the Team Flare guard had pushed her into the riverbed in the first place. She could have broken her neck! She should have _realised._

Eventually it was her turn to be seen by the hospital staff. Shauna accompanied her, mumbling sleepily and rubbing her eyes, but refusing to leave when Avaline suggested she go back to the Centre. There were x-rays and more waiting and then the staff put her hand back in the support glove, gave her some pain medication, and told her to come back in two days' time to have it put in a cast. It wasn't the most serious broken hand ever, but it was important to make sure it healed correctly. The scratches and grazes, they said, were superficial, but she should make an effort to keep them clean and keep an eye out in case of infection.

Avaline couldn't believe that she'd gotten off so lightly.

 

 

She felt even worse when, the next morning, Shauna shook her awake and said, "Your mum is here."

Avaline's heart sank all the way to her toes. She hadn't even thought to call her mother. This was going to be the scolding of a lifetime and she didn't think she could handle it right now.

But the first thing Mum did when Avaline stepped outside was to wrap her arms around her tightly. She tucked Avaline's head under her chin and didn't say a word. For some reason, Avaline completely shattered and began to sob.

This set Roran off too. She saw Shauna awkwardly trying to comfort him out of the corner of her eye and hiccupped.

"It's okay now," Mum said. "It's okay."

Avaline was sure which of them she was talking to.

Eventually, Mum pulled away, keeping her hands on Avaline's shoulders as though worried she'd escape. Avaline was shocked to see that her eyes were wet. She couldn't remember the last time she'd seen her mother cry.

Roran whined and nudged them both, wanting to be comforted too. Avaline bent down to pet him, but he growled when he spotted her cast. She glanced at her mother, but her hands were clenched and she was staring at nothing.

"...It's to help me get better. It doesn't hurt or anything. See?" She knocked on it gently with a fist.

Roran touched it with his nose, still suspicious but eventually he snorted at it and hunkered down.

Avaline blinked at him.

"He wants you to come home," Mum said.

"I can't—"

"Yes, you can."

Avaline faltered and looked at her cast. "I want to stay with Calem and Shauna," she said, more firmly.

Mum sighed. "I was afraid you'd say that."

"I can't just leave them…"

Not after realising how dangerous Team Flare really was.

She hadn't even thought to ask Korrina about telling her mother. Was it okay to say it now? Maybe that would make things worse. As far as Avaline knew, their encounter in the Badlands had been written off as impatient kids, and Korrina and Diantha's arrival a lucky coincidence as they were launching their own investigation.

Would it be worse, to tell Mum she'd gone in there on purpose, carelessly assuming she could handle it, or to let her think that without the miracle of Diantha showing up at the right time, Avaline would've died?

"It's my own fault, I suppose," Mum said dully. "You've had to get used to being on your own, doing stuff without me. Without anyone."

Avaline winced. "That's not…"

"But it's probably too late to start telling you how to live your life now." She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "If you change your mind, I won't be disappointed. You can come home any time."

There was a lump in Avaline's throat. She knew if she said anything, she'd start crying again.

Mum kiss the top of her head. Roran was still stubbornly waiting for Avaline to climb on top of him, and he whined when Mum sat on him instead. "We'll be in town as long as you need us. Come on, Roran, let's go look for a hotel."

That wasn't her only visitor. Avaline was just coming back from an awkward lunch with her mother when she saw Shauna walking with Professor Sycamore and… Lysandre. She really did not have the energy for this right now, but she saw Shauna's strained smile. She gritted her teeth and braced herself.

"Avaline!" Sycamore said. His smile was strained. "Shauna tells me you're doing well?"

Lysandre merely inclined his head.

"Yes, thank you."

"A close call, though, if I understand correctly," Lysandre said.

The details were supposed to be for law enforcement and the League only, Korrina said, but Avaline supposed she wasn't surprised they made an exception for Lysandre. She wondered if Professor Sycamore told him or if that Grand Duke title counted for more than she'd thought.

As the pause lengthened, he added, "Still, I am pleased that you pulled through."

Avaline supposed that was just his weird way of saying 'glad it wasn't worse'. "...Thank you."

Lysandre nodded. There were dark circles under his eyes and he seemed even more distracted than usual, looking somewhere over her shoulder. "Best wishes for your recovery."

To her relief, they left soon after giving their 'get well soon's.

Shauna grimaced. "Sorry. I ran into Professor Sycamore, and I didn't really know how to say it wasn't a good time…"

"Don't worry about it."

They stood in silence for a moment.

"Do you feel bad for not telling him about mega evolution?" Shauna asked.

Avaline blinked at the sudden change of topic. "I… guess? I mean, he did give me Senshi and Atlas but…" She sighed. "It's not really my secret to share."

"But it will be," Shauna pointed out. "You have a key stone now, and Korrina asked you to be her successor."

"I haven't thought about it that much yet." She'd only been the successor for, what, a little over a week?

"Sorry," Shauna said. She sighed. "Seeing him just reminded me of his research, is all. I think people could do a lot of good if we knew more about mega evolution. Maybe there would be a way to make it easier on the pokemon, or manage the side effects."

"...Well, Arnaud wants me to come study mega evolution with everyone, so maybe I'll ask then."

"Okay." Shauna grabbed her hand. "Me and Calem will look into Team Flare some more for you!"

Avaline's stomach flipped.

"I don't mean fighting them!" she added hastily. "I mean just research! It's the least I can do to help you."

The thought of facing Team Flare again made Avaline feel slightly sick. But she supposed it would be valuable to Diantha and Korrina, at least.

She felt tired, and make excuses to go up to their room for a nap, even though she didn't really want to sleep. Instead, she took out her holo caster. There was an email from Mariko that she'd read a half a dozen times. In Coumarine City, she'd meant to reply when something actually interesting happened. There was a few paragraphs of a reply in drafts, talking about Senshi's evolution and the weird fight he was still having with Ariel. It stopped abruptly half way through a sentence, and she how no idea how it was supposed to finish. It felt like the thing had been written by a different person.

Eventually, Avaline deleted the draft. But she couldn't think of anything to replace it. She read the paragraph again about Appa needing to hide under a blanket when there had been a thunderstorm. He'd always been a little timid around loud noises. She was glad that he hadn't been able to come to Kalos with her, or he would've been there too.

For lack of anything else to do, she slept.

 

 

It felt so strange to settle back into anything approaching normalcy. She persuaded her mother than it was okay to go home after a few days, and from then on ate lunch in the cafeteria with Shauna. People looked strangely at her injuries and she heard some whispered rumours about what had happened in the Badlands. Avaline ate mechanically and tasted none of it.

She realised that she hadn't asked Shauna what had happened to her and Calem. She nearly opened her mouth to say something—but lost her nerve at the last moment. Shauna didn't look injured at all, so it probably hadn't been anything that the two of them couldn't handle. But Avaline didn't want to think about what potential danger she might have sent her friends into.

Avaline hadn't yet talked to her pokemon about what had happened - _all_ her pokemon. She was a little nervous of what the response would be, and wandered around the city instead of looking for somewhere she could release them all. After a while, it occurred to her that Calem might be hanging around as well. In a city the size of Lumiose, it was unlikely in the extreme that she would run into him. But the thought made the back of her neck itch with the feeling of being watched, so she went onto _Mélancholie Path_ , Route 16.

It was nearly deserted except for a few fishermen by the lake. Avaline pulled up her map. It only connected to Route 15, so it was used to cut through to Dendemille Town. Was that where Shauna said her aunt lived, the cold place? Avaline couldn't remember, but the days seemed to be getting shorter. She should probably look into buying some winter wear, or maybe digging some things out of her wardrobe. The summer had been unusually mild and dry for Kalos, but superstition said that meant the autumn and winter would be worse—

Avaline suddenly felt like crying and she wasn't sure why. There was a small trail off the main path. She followed it and emerged into a little clearing. Maybe it was used for picnics or something, but there was no one there now. She sat down heavily and put her face in her hands, but no tears came.

What was she supposed to do now?

The idea that she could continue on just as before seemed impossible. And yet, there wasn't anything in particular stopping her. Once they did the cast for her broken hand, it could be removed at any hospital, so she didn't have to hang around Lumiose for six weeks. Half of her team had never been involved in the battle in the first place, and the rest would be fully recovered before _she_ was. She could battle. She could be a trainer, even though just the word _battle_ made her feel queasy. But—

They nearly died. They all could've died, and—and Avaline felt like there should be something _more_ afterwards. Like she should have a new direction, or…

Maybe she _should_ quit, like her mother said. But it felt like giving up. Even worse, it felt like abandoning Calem and Shauna after finding out that Team Flare was more dangerous than anyone had anticipated. The atmosphere in Lumiose was different now, too. Before, Team Flare had mainly been objects of ridicule and annoyance. Now people talked about them in hushed tones. On the news, it said someone had thrown a brick through the window of a shop that had an orange jumper displayed in the window, even though they weren't linked to Team Flare at all. It was a stupid thing to do, but it showed how frightened people were.

And then there was the key stone. Avaline pulled it out of her bag. It was smaller than the pokemons' mega stones, fitting comfortably within the palm of her hand. It was actually rather light, lighter than she remembered it being when they'd found it. But maybe that was because of the strange connection she could feel to it. Like the stone had grabbed something inside of her and was just… pushing at her, gently.

Korrina wanted her to be the successor to the secret of mega evolution. _Can I really do it?_

She put the stone away in her bag again. As soon as she let go, she felt like a weight had been lifted off her, but also like something important had gone missing. Frederick DuBois' diary hadn't touched very much on what mega evolution meant for the trainer, and Avaline hadn't thought very much about it since her discussion with Korrina. It was difficult to feel more than mildly uneasy about it, but she supposed she should ask Arnaud later, if he was still around.

But now she was just putting it off again.

She took out the pokeballs containing Queenie, Brittany and Johto and just held them for a moment. What would have happened to them, if she really had died? Would Team Flare have taken them? Would someone have found them later? Would anyone have explained to them what had happened; would they even know how to?

Avaline had considered calling Senshi out, or maybe Ariel, to sit with her whilst she explained to them what had happened, but… that wasn't fair. They'd both been hurt really badly; worse than Avaline, even if her measly human body meant it would take longer for her to recover. She couldn't make them go through all that again. _I'm their trainer. I'm supposed to be the one responsible for them._

Her hands were shaking. She took a deep breath, and then another, and forced herself to toss the pokeballs before she had the chance to talk herself out of it.

Queenie, Johto and Brittany looked up at her curiously. Johto seemed confused not to find Atlas there too, looking around and blinking his large eyes. Brittany sniffed at a stray leaf, mumbling away to herself. And Queenie seemed to sense that something wasn't quite right with Avaline, because she flew over, hovering and making the short, repeated buzzes that Avaline recognised as _questioning._ After a moment, Brittany came over as well, and Johto, watching the two of them, flattened his ears.

Somehow, haltingly, Avaline was able to explain what had happened. Her own voice seemed to be coming from a great distance away, but each word too real effort – some of them she felt like she was physically pushing them out of her mouth, her tongue feeling heavy.

At some point during the talking, Johto and Brittany wormed their way onto her lap. Avaline wavered, but she thought that if she stopped, she'd never start again.

"So, I… I just wanted to tell you that I was sorry," Avaline said. "It's my fault that Ariel and Atlas and Senshi got hurt and… and I realised that I got involved with some really dangerous things without asking if it was okay…" Her voice cracked, and she couldn't stop tears spilling down her cheeks. "If you want to go with another trainer, I understand."

She bowed her head, only to see Johto put his front paws on her chest and lick the tears off her face. Something tickled her neck, and she put her hand up to feel Brittany's fluffy fur, getting a soft trill in her ear in reply.

Looking up, Avaline saw Queenie was hovering right in front of her. The beedrill didn't make any noise, but she very gently bumped her head against Avaline's.

She felt her hands open and close reflexively. She didn't know what to say.

Johto jumped off her lap suddenly and ran to her bag, nudging it with his ears twitching. He looked at her expectantly.

When Atlas came out last of all, Johto seemed to know him immediately. He yipped at Atlas excitedly, and Atlas _whuffed_ back in a friendly manner even though Johto no longer even reached his knee. Senshi was quiet, but Queenie shook her stingers at him and he bowed his head in return. Avaline simply watched, not even sure exactly what they were saying to one another.

Brittany's sing-song voice drew her attention, higher pitched than normal with an edge of alarm. The little spritzee seemed to be trying to get Ariel's attention. He was stood a little way from the rest of them, his eyes closed. He made no reaction to another trill from Brittany, even more alarmed than the last one, except to turn away.

 _Oh no,_ Avaline thought. She hadn't really talked to Ariel much earlier, but she should have expected something like this. Ariel was used to working with the _Champion._ Of course whatever—whatever connection he'd felt to Avaline would be at least tested by her doing something stupid like this.

"Ariel?" She saw him tense, but he didn't move. Her heart sank. She swallowed, gathering what little courage she possessed. "If you—if you want to go back with Korrina, that's—"

But she was brought up short when Ariel whirled around, eyes wide and alarmed, shaking his head. Brittany trilled something again, a much lower note than she normally used. She fluttered behind Ariel and _pushed._ It probably didn't even register as a tickle to Ariel, but he took a tentative step forward.

Avaline was confused. He didn't seem to be upset with her for whatever reason, but if it wasn't _that_ , then…

She felt her eyes widen in realisation. ' _I am_ _ **so**_ _holding you responsible for this if it goes wrong.'_

"No no no." Avaline reached out a hand to him. _How could I have said that to him!_ "Ariel, no. It wasn't your fault! I should've…"

Ariel knelt on the ground next to her and Avaline threw her arms around him. He made a noise that she couldn't exactly decipher, but judging by the sounds the rest of the team made in response, he was trying to disagree with her.

Avaline hugged him tighter, even though his steel typing made it kind of uncomfortable. "I'm sorry I said that to you. It was flippant and I didn't mean it. It's not your fault, Ariel, I—no matter how much experience you have, I'm still your trainer. I'm the one who makes the decisions. I didn't have to agree with you… I'm sorry." She let go of Ariel reluctantly and folded her hands in her lap. " _Everyone,_ I'm sorry."

At once, they all crowded closer to her. Tiny Brittany fluttered back to her place at Avaline's neck; Johto climbed into her lap; at her back, she felt Atlas's burning heat, and the huge shadow he cast on the ground; Senshi hadn't moved from her side at all, but he made a quiet croaking noise, just to remind her that he was there; Queenie awkwardly adjusted her giant stingers as she lay next to him, making sure they were pointed away from Avaline.

And Ariel just raised his fist.

Avaline gave her first smile of the day as she bumped fists with him.

"From now on, I'll do better."

_I won't let anyone hurt you again._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Current team:  
> Greninja (M) – Senshi  
> Beedrill (F) – Queenie  
> Charizard (M) – Atlas  
> Spritzee (F) – Brittany  
> Eevee (M) – Johto  
> Lucario (M) – Ariel
> 
> Just a heads up, due to some other commitments piling up and the fact that the next chapter has to be written from scratch (and I've barely started it), there will be no update next week. So the next chapter will be posted on the 27th of June. However, after that we should be back on the normal schedule. I'll let you know if anything else comes up that might mean a late update.


	16. Inheritance

Now, Avaline _knew_ that Calem was avoiding her.

She had seen him at breakfast once. When he saw her, he put down his tray and said he was going to do some training and would get breakfast to go. The two of them had barely spoken. Calem avoided eye contact and made excuses to retreat to his room early or to run errands in the city, alone.

It wouldn't have bothered her – Calem was well within his rights to be angry at her – except that Arnaud had said that, since she'd found a keystone already, she should come back to the Battle Tower to study mega evolution under Korrina.

It was a good plan. Avaline did want to learn. The power Diantha's gardevoir had displayed had been… kind of terrifying, but if she _could_ do it, then that would help to keep the entire team safe, Calem and Shauna too. But she didn't want to leave with this bad blood between them. It was even starting to affect Shauna and Calem's relationship; she had sided with Avaline even though she and Calem had been friends their entire lives.

It wasn't that Avaline expected Calem to forgive her instantly, but if they could just talk...

Avaline put it off as long as she could, but after buying the evolution stone for Johto and watching him show off his new speed to Atlas, she realised that she was due to leave with Arnaud in two days. It was time to stop hoping Calem would come to her.

_Hi Calem. I'm leaving soon, so let's talk. Do you want to meet for coffee?_

She didn't receive a response for over an hour.

_I'm out on Route 16. Come find me if you want._

Avaline winced. Calem was typically very blunt with his messages and this wasn't really outside the norm for him, but in context it felt… cold.

She went anyway.

Avaline spotted him at the far side of the lake she'd noticed the other day. He didn't seem to be looking out for her; she saw him gesturing, and the water seemed disturbed. Maybe he was training with Miso? That would explain why the fishermen were grumbling to themselves and shooting dirty looks across the water.

Avaline walked around the edge of the lake slowly. She realised she was being childish, dragging her feet to put the conversation off just a bit longer, but she couldn't help herself.

Calem didn't notice her until she was within hearing distance. He stopped, midway through shouting a command, and stared at her. Avaline gave a tentative wave, but Calem looked down at the ground and turned away.

 _It's fine that he's mad at me,_ Avaline reminded herself.

Calem said something else, in a lower voice that she couldn't catch. Miso hauled himself out of the water a few moments later. Calem patted him and smiled before returning Miso to his pokeball.

Then it was just the two of them.

Avaline cleared her throat. "So… I guess Miso's training is going well?"

"Yeah," Calem said. He still didn't quite meet her eyes. "You, uh… you actually came."

"…Yeah."

The silence was painful. Calem fiddled with the strap of his shoulder bag. Avaline found herself clasping her hands together tightly to have something to do. _Come on. You managed to talk to your pokemon. This shouldn't be as difficult as that._

"I-I know that you're mad at me about what happened, and—"

"No," Calem said.

Avaline instantly forgot everything she had been going to say.

"Well, yes, but…" Calem ran a hand through his hair and let out a noise of frustration. "It's… complicated."

He sat down heavily. Avaline stepped a little closer, wondering if she should sit next to him. Calem was looking out over the lake, and he was never very expressive anyway, so it was difficult to tell if he would be okay with it, or…

"I've wanted to be Champion," Calem said suddenly, "ever since I can remember. It's… it's the only thing I've ever _wanted._ "

Avaline tensed at the introduction of the new topic and didn't say anything.

Calem didn't seem like he was really expecting a reply, anyway, because he continued after another pause. "I've worked really hard, I think. I read a lot when I was a kid, about the pokemon of the region, about how to care for them, and about battle strategies. I used to pester my parents all the time for tips, for them to take me out journeying with them. I studied my mother's old Gym battles… I did everything I could."

He laughed suddenly, rubbing his face as though exhausted. Avaline decided to sit down next to him after all.

"And then you came along."

Avaline had still been trying to arrange her legs in a comfortable position and didn't immediately realise that he was looking at her now, expecting some kind of answer. "I don't… understand what you mean."

Calem groaned and rubbed his face with his hands. "I mean, just... you're you!" He looked at her helplessly. "You don't know anything about this region, you didn't grow up with any trainers, you only wanted to do the Gyms for money… and now you've rediscovered an ancient battle technique, and you're leaving in two days to personally train under the current Champion! And then you'll be able to use mega evolution, _and what do I have that can match that?!_ "

Avaline shifted uncomfortably.

"Sometimes," Calem whispered, "I really hate that you came here."

She winced. _I should say_ _ **something.**_ Calem had always been reserved, it must be difficult for him to pour his heart out to her like this, and it was her fault that he was feeling this way even if that hadn't been what she'd intended. But what could she do? Apologise for being talented? For bonding with Korrina's lucario? She couldn't think of anything to say that wouldn't be condescending or obviously pitying.

"But," he continued, "I let my feelings get the better of me. I wanted… for once, I wanted to be the one who did something extraordinary. That's why I agreed to go into the Badlands in the first place."

"That's not your fault—"

"Yes, it is," he said. "Not everything that happened—once we were there, of course we couldn't ignore the people in trouble at the Power Plant, and it's not my fault that you ended up running into that really strong Team Flare, but… I shouldn't have let us go."

"You didn't _let us_ do anything!" she retorted. "If you'd said no, I would've gone anyway—"

"No, you wouldn't," Calem said. "I mean, you _say_ that because you feel like you deserve the blame, but you wouldn't have gone without me and Shauna. And Shauna wouldn't have gone if I had said it was too dangerous."

Avaline deflated. It was true, she realised all at once. In every scenario she'd imagined about the Badlands, even the most unrealistic saving-the-days, it had been the three of them together. It was, after all, _their_ journey.

"I've been all over the region with my parents. I've _been_ in environments like this." Calem gave a rueful smile. "I knew it was too dangerous – we weren't properly equipped, we didn't have a good idea of the conditions, and we didn't even _need_ to go at all! Diantha and Korrina were right behind us, and they ended up saving the day anyway." He clenched his fists. "And if _you_ weren't so amazing, you would have _died._ Because you and Shauna trust me to be responsible and I _wasn't_ and I got so jealous that I… I forgot what was really important."

"You're being too harsh on yourself," Avaline said. "Shauna could have put her foot down. I didn't have to try so hard to convince her because I wanted some excitement." She sighed. "Maybe we've all been overconfident…"

They sat in silence for a while. At least it didn't feel as awkward as before.

"Maybe," Calem said, eventually, "but it still doesn't seem fair that you should be the one who paid for it."

" _I_ didn't." Avaline thought of Atlas's strange expression when Johto was showing off his speed as a jolteon. He'd been difficult to read before his evolution, and now she had to get used to whole new forms of expression. But… there was something about it that made her nervous. Atlas didn't seem to know what to do with himself. He'd literally evolved in the middle of a fight for his life and now he was banned from any fighting at all, Avaline was worried he may not feel comfortable with his new body.

Calem broke her out of her thoughts. "Anyway, despite what I said, I still don't feel like we can leave Team Flare alone to just cause trouble. If Team Flare really are interested in mega evolution, then Diantha and Korrina need all the help they can get. We shouldn't be reckless, but… we _can_ help." He looked Avaline directly in the eye. "So I wanted to tell you… I'm not going to think of you as a rival anymore. You go and get as strong as you can, and I'll do whatever you can to support you. And Shauna too."

"Calem, that's…" She was lost for words. She still wasn't sure if she could really do this, mega evolution or Team Flare or just… any of it.

But then—Calem, who was still the most knowledgeable one of them all, and Shauna, who was so perceptive, and Korrina, who had known about mega evolution for as long as she lived, and Avaline's whole team… _they_ all believed that she could do it.

Maybe it was time to start listening to them. To start trusting them.

Avaline stood up abruptly, brushing off her skirt before offering a hand to Calem. He took it after a moment of confusion and stood up as well.

"I still expect you to do your best to kick my ass when this is all over, you know."

Calem's face broke out into a slow smile. "Yeah," he said. "You can count on it."

 

 

The last time Avaline had been at the Battle Tower, she hadn't spent much time exploring. She knew the Tower was designed to house a number of trainers.

"Luckily, with Team Flare gone, the Badlands are open for travel again, so we don't have to use them for overflow from the Pokemon Centre," Korrina said.

She held the door open for Avalines. The dormitory held space for half a dozen, but at the moment it was empty.

"Good riddance, too," Arnaud said. "They were getting in the way of my research."

Korrina rolled her eyes. "Grandfather, you've slept in your study for the last three days."

"Where is everyone?" Avaline said. "The other trainers?"

"Mega evolution tends to attract attention if you don't know how to control it, so we asked them to leave."

Avaline looked at one of the neatly made beds, her stomach churning. "Oh."

Korrina patted her shoulder. "Don't feel bad, there were only four. Not that many trainers actually _want_ to specialise in one type nowadays." She gave a rueful smile. "At least that means you can let your pokemon wander around freely if you want. Shove the beds into the corner or something and there should be room. Just tell Atlas to be careful with the fire, okay?"

"Sure," Avaline said. She dropped her bag by one of the beds at random, sitting heavily.

"We'll let you settle in," Arnaud said. Korrina opened her mouth, but he spoke right over her. "You're still recovering, so we'll take it easy for the first few days. You can help with my research!" His eyes gleamed.

Avaline made an effort to smile. He must be really desperate if he actually wanted _her_ help. "That sounds… fun."

Korrina glanced at Arnaud, but only said, "Diantha won't be here much this month; she had to do some interviews about the biopic she's directing. So it'll just be the three of us."

Avaline tried not to look like she found this prospect slightly terrifying. "What about dinner and stuff?"

"I can cook."

"You can boil pasta," Arnaud corrected. "Honestly. I don't know what you'll do when I'm dead if and Diantha has to go away for filming."

"She's hardly better than me. She only knows three recipes!"

Avaline cleared her throat. "I… I meant where we'll be eating and stuff."

Arnaud blinked. "Oh. I'll send Titania to find you when it's ready, don't worry."

"And you get at me for relying on Diantha. Without Titania, you'd be completely lost."

"She just likes to be helpful! Unlike some of the pokemon in this house…"

Their voices faded away as they left. Avaline guessed that Titania was Arnaud's lucario. Come to think of it, she hadn't really seen Ferdy around, either. Since they were brothers, she supposed he would stop by at some point to see Ariel. Was Titania a relation of theirs, too?

She realised she was clutching at the hem of her skirt, and stopped before she could crease it too badly. It was disappointing that Diantha wasn't here. Despite being world famous, she'd seemed so lovely and so easy to talk to. Korrina felt unreachable, and she might hate Avaline for all she knew. Not only had Ariel gone with Avaline instead of Korrina, but she'd promptly got him into a dangerous situation where he could've died.

Arnaud was… well, he just seemed strange, despite being friendly. Maybe it was because Avaline had never known any of her grandparents, but she wasn't sure how to talk to him. Mum rarely mentioned her own parents. They hadn't liked the idea of her becoming a rhyhorn racer, and she was already estranged from them by the time they died, three years after Avaline had been born.

She wished that Shauna and Calem could've been here too.

At least her pokemon could be outside of their pokeballs a lot. It would be fun, to be able to have them around her all the time. It had been an age since they were all small enough to be around her whilst indoors.

...Still, a month without her friends seemed like a long time.

 

 

Titania's muzzle and the tips of her ears were white. Avaline had never seen a pokemon that old before; many pokemon were not as long-lived as humans. She hadn't thought much about the lifespan of lucario.

Ariel barked something and Avaline blinked, realising she had been staring into space. "Sorry, Titania," she said. "We're coming now."

Dinner was an awkward affair. Arnaud had made some kind of pasta dish which Avaline was not very familiar with, and it turned out that eating spaghetti was not quite the same as eating noodles, especially without chopsticks and with one arm in a cast. It got _everywhere._ Avalinge cringed and silently prayed that it wouldn't stain her dress. _Really_ not the impression she wanted to make.

"Mega evolution is all well and good, but we should spend some time thinking about your other pokemon as well," Arnaud said without preamble. "I notice your spritzee hasn't evolved yet."

Brittany was bright eyed and paying rapt attention, so she was enthusiastic about the idea. Avaline shrugged. "I looked into it a little, but the information I found online didn't seem that reliable."

"Diantha has done some research on the fairy type." Korrina was scrolling through her phone. "For spritzee, it's triggered by a strong smell combined with some kind of emotional response."

That was… both oddly specific and really vague at the same time. Avaline looked at Brittany, who gave her a questioning trill in return. Well, at least it seemed weird to her too.

"Have you had any thoughts about the rest of your team?" Korrina said.

There was something cautious about it. Like Korrina was trying too hard to be casual, not even looking up from her phone. Was it a test or something? Or was she just mad at Avaline and trying to act normal?

"I think Johto needs to practice his electric attacks. And Senshi…" He was doing well, as far as Avaline knew. "Maybe we can try getting his water shuriken up to five in succession? But I know that may not be possible yet."

Senshi let out a croak of protest. When Avaline ignored him, he turned his back on her to sulk.

It was silent for a moment.

"Your beedrill and charizard?" Arnaud prompted.

She frowned at him. "Korrina says mega evolution puts a lot of stress on the body, so anything else would probably be too much for them."

Korrina dropped her phone. Arnaud stared at Avaline.

 _Did I forget to tell them?_ "I told you I found some more mega stones," she said defensively.

"I mean—well—three on one team?" Arnaud's surprise quickly turned to glee. "But this is great! I'll be the first one in a hundred years to describe a new mega evolution!"

Korrina rolled her eyes. "We have one, old, description of a mega evolved charizard, but beedrill in a new one on us," she explained.

"Oh." She could see why Arnaud was excited. "I got it from an old lady in Geosenge Town; her brother left it with her years ago."

"So there are more users of mega evolution that we didn't know about." Korrina nudged Arnaud. "At least you can't lay this one at my feet, old timer."

"I'll show you 'old timer'," he grumbled.

It reminded Avaline of her and Mum. They hadn't parted on the best of terms back in Lumiose City; Mum (and Roran) still wanted her to come home. Since Avaline couldn't tell her mother about mega evolution, her excuses about training with the Champion just seemed feeble and weird. Maybe Mum and Roran would be reassured if she called home and was able to seem normal.

"Well, I guess this means we'll both be learning new things thing month." Korrina smiled.

Maybe Avaline was being paranoid, thinking Korrina disliked her because of what happened in the Badlands. Neither she nor Arnaud had behaved any differently as far as she could see.

"I hope I can make you proud," she blurted, and then blushed fiercely and hid her face in her hands. _Why did I say that out loud?!_

But she heard Arnaud's chuckle and didn't think it sounded mean. "You found a good one, Korrina. Maybe you're not such a bad successor after all."

" _...Maybe?"_

 

 

"So. Mega evolution."

Korrina had led Avaline to the roof and now she was pacing. It made Avaline more nervous just watching her. Ariel was twitchy, too. Only Ferdy seemed calm, observing the rest of them with his arms folded across his chest.

"We'll get a bracelet made for your key stone," Korrina said. "But for now, just hold on to it. We're going to start slow today, just holding the transformation for a few minutes if possible. Ariel, of course, has already experienced mega evolution, so this is mainly for your benefit."

"What about Queenie and Atlas?"

"I'm… still working on a plan for those two," she admitted. "We don't know anything about mega beedrill and only a little more about mega charizard. It's hard to know how they'll react. You should be able to influence them a little through your key stone, but I'd like to have Grandfather and Titania on hand too."

Avaline nodded. It was a sensible precaution, even though the idea of needing to take precautions against _Queenie and Atlas_ made her deeply uneasy.

"Now, to actually transform. There should be some connection to Ariel and his lucarionite that you can feel using your key stone. I can't really tell you what to expect, as it seems to be different for everyone. For me, it's kind of like… a feeling of heat? And Diantha says they're like stars."

Avaline nodded again, reminding herself to breathe at a normal pace.

Korrina gave her a reassuring smile. "Just try to find that connection for now; don't do anything with it. But Ferdy and I are here in case anything does go wrong."

She nodded and closed her eyes, focussing on the key stone in his fist. It felt a little like someone tugging at her hair, but she was very aware that her hair wasn't moving at all. A strange feeling.

She breathed in and out once. There was a thread - several threads, actually, but the others were insubstantial and soft, like spider's web. But one was… not thick, exactly, because it wasn't real, but _weighty._

Avaline reached out to it. Like gently brushing her fingers against the strings of a guitar, the reaction wasn't really a note - just the potential for music. The sound of companionable silence.

She open her eyes. The sunshine seemed too vivid, artificial and unreal, but the feeling passed after a moment.

"You got it?" Korrina grinned when Avaline nodded. "What was it like?"

"...Strings."

Korrina didn't seem to find this as weird as she did. "Next step, try getting the feeling back without closing your eyes. Don't worry if it takes you a few attempts…"

From there, it was about Avaline being able to find the thread more quickly, until she could pick it up in an instant. They broke for a late lunch once Korrina was satisfied that Avaline could so it consistently.

"You're making good progress," she said around a mouthful of sandwich "This afternoon we'll try actually mega evolving with Ariel."

He'd been getting twitchier throughout the day. Avaline wasn't sure if it was the effects of her practice or nerves or both. She touched his arm gently and he perked up, asking her for a fist bump.

She giggled and bumped fists. "It'll only be for emergencies. Maybe Queenie or Atlas will take to mega evolution better and you won't have to do it at all."

This seemed to cheer him up slightly, and he was calmer when they went back to the roof.

"Don't worry about speed this time," Korrina said, "but try to keep your eyes open. It's a very bad habit to get into, closing them."

Given the situations when you'd actually want to use mega evolution would be really dangerous, Avaline could only imagine.

First she tried… plucking... the thread, but that didn't seem to have any effect at all. Then she tried pushing at it, which made Ariel look at her strangely, but didn't do anything else.

She remembered the hair-pulling feeling. Finding the thread again, she gave it a little tug.

It was like she'd been winded. She had to fight to keep her eyes open as Ariel transformed, consciously breathing in and out. The world around her seemed distant, almost muted; when Korrina touched her shoulder, it was a few seconds before she thought to react to it, but she seemed to have forgotten out to turn her head.

The thread connecting her to Ariel no longer felt like companionable silence. It was hollow and Avaline had the strange feeling of her own presence echoing within it. Her veins were on fire and every mouthful of air felt like a new rush of energy. But there was so much, she didn't know what to do with it.

Ariel wasn't moving but she wasn't sure if that was a good thing. He seemed tense, ready to pounce.

"Avaline."

Korrina. Right. Words wouldn't come, but she could turn her head. The movement brought a rush of colours to her eyes and made her feel dizzy.

'Let go,' Korrina mouthed. Or maybe she said it out loud and Avaline couldn't tell because of the ambient noise in her ears, a low buzzing like static.

She didn't know how to let go. It felt like the thread was gathered around her, but she couldn't touch it—

Korrina grabbed her fist and prised her fingers apart. Her key stone dropped to the floor.

Avaline breathed. Her knees felt weak, and she would have fallen if not for Korrina holding her up. Everything seemed to spin. Her stomach turned over. Ferdy placed a bucket in front of her and she was promptly sick in it.

"Yeah," Korrina said, patting her head, "that's normal for the first time."

 

 

By the time Avaline had mastered the basics of mega evolution, Atlas was fully healed. The scar wasn't even that noticeable. Avaline tried not to dwell on it, but she couldn't help but notice the way that Atlas would paw as it sometimes, as though it was itchy.

Maybe he sensed that they were all trying too hard not to be weird about it, because he spent most of his time with Johto, who treated Atlas no differently than before. Avaline was glad Atlas had one friend to rely on, but…

He wouldn't fly.

She saw him sitting in the courtyard sometimes in the middle of the night, the flame on his tail visible from her window. He didn't seem to mention it to everyone else. Avaline only knew because she had nightmares sometimes, too, and she'd worried about where Atlas was.

There was nothing online about talking to pokemon about a traumatic incident - at least, not in enough detail to be helpful, just vague platitudes. She found some stuff that applied to humans, but who knew if the brain chemistry of pokemon worked in the same way. Avaline could ask Arnaud, and she planned to, but… it felt wrong to do it without talking to Atlas first. _She_ had been there with him; maybe that would make it easier for him to accept her concern. And it felt cowardly to just hand over the issue to someone else, as though she'd washed her hands of it. She didn't want Atlas to think he was too much trouble or that she didn't care. She just didn't know here to start.

One night, she woke from another dream. For a moment the cheap, scratchy bedlinen was the grit of the sandstorm against her face - and then she was in her room at the Battle Tower. It took a moment for her to adjust to the darkness of the room, and she realised it was because there was no gentle light from Atlas's tail.

Everyone else was present and asleep. Considering his size, Atlas must've made a serious effort not to disturb anyone when he left.

Avaline threw back the covers and padded to the door. The bare stone was freezing on her feet as she walked down the central spiral and made her way to the courtyard.

Obviously, nothing bad would've happened to Atlas just from stepping outside, but all the same, Avaline breathed a little easier when she saw the light of his tail. "Atlas?"

He glanced over his shoulder at her and let out a quiet rumble.

Avaline wasn't sure what he meant. He'd been too quiet, recently. "I had a nightmare, too," she said.

Atlas blinked at her. He lifted his wings a little, and gestured at them with his head.

She smiled and settled next to him, letting a wing fold around her. Pressed up against this side, she was soon sweating, but she didn't mind.

They were silent for a while. Then Atlas moved his head to look at her. He let out a growl and stirred his wings a little.

Avaline could guess what he was getting at. "I'm not angry at you, Atlas. I'm worried. Everyone is worried."

He poked her head with his snout.

"It's just…" It was hard to say this out loud, because it wasn't really something she had been practising herself. "It's okay to not be okay, you know? Please don't hide from us. If you want company, you just have to ask."

Atlas's head moved away and at first she feared she'd said the wrong thing. But then she felt a rumble through his skin and saw the way his head dipped, apologetic. Avaline smiled and leaned against him.

They stayed like that until Ariel, bleary-eyed, came looking for her. At his anxious noises, Avaline agreed to go back to bed. Ariel shooed her away and then, without prompting, sat next to Atlas. From his gestures at the night sky and series of barks and yips, she thought he was telling Atlas about the stars.

She felt better when she slipped back into bed, even though she nearly stepped on Brittany. _We'll all be okay. Eventually._

A few days later, she and her team were in the courtyard again. It was a beautiful, warm day, even though summer was supposed to be ending. Avaline had the day off from studying mega evolution because she'd slept for twelve hours straight after trying to fight with mega evolved Ariel yesterday.

Johto was showing off the extra burst of speed he'd developed with Arnaud and Titania. At times he was little more than an energetic blur.

The surprise came when Atlas roar in challenge and fluttered his wings. Johto wasn't even slightly intimidated, dancing on his paws with electricity crackling through his fur. Then Atlas took to the air and Johto started running. They were racing, but—

_Atlas is flying!_

Avaline grinned, and when Atlas finally landed - several seconds behind Johto - she ran and threw her arms around him.

 

 

Korrina wasn't wearing her skates, which Avaline took to mean she was taking this seriously. Ferdy and Titania were on standby. Arnaud had a camera to record the 'historic event'. (He used those exact words.)

Queenie buzzed at her shoulder, hovering. The beedrillite had been fashioned into a necklace for her. She kept knocking it with her stingers. _Clink. Clink._

Avaline hoped that she wouldn't throw up or faint or anything this time. "Don't worry, Queenie, it'll be okay."

She continued to hover around Avaline's shoulder. Well, it wasn't surprising that she was nervous.

"Did you change your mind? You don't have to learn mega evolution—"

Queenie buzzed loudly and shook her stingers.

"She seems pretty sure to me," Korrina said dryly. "Alright, let's get started."

Avaline nodded. It took no time at all for her to reach out and find Queenie's thread of quiet reassurance.

When the glow of mega evolution had faded, Queenie looked… dangerous. Her giant stinger-hands had grown even bigger, her abdomen was one large, wicked looking stinger, and even her legs had thickened into sharp stingers. Her whole body was now half its normal size again. More importantly, the thread connecting Avaline to Queenie was vibrating. It started as a low hum that got louder and louder as Queenie grew more agitated, banging her stingers together and looking at Ferdy and Titania in turn.

Avaline had found she could make Ariel feel better by helping to 'fill' the echoey space in his thread. She tried to smooth out Queenie's thread, but instead the line went taut. Queenie snapped and rushed Titania.

She was _fast._ Faster than Johto. One of her spikes scored Titania before she could do more than jerk back. Then Ferdy was there, pulling Queenie away. Avaline shouted to her, but she didn't seem to pay attention.

She took a deep breath to steady herself and mentalled tugged on the thread, unwinding it until it was a thin spider's web again.

Queenie shuddered and shrank, dropping to the floor as her usual self. When she didn't stir, Avaline ran over. Queenie was unconscious but seemed to be breathing steadily.

"Grandfather will give her a look over," Korrina said, as though she'd read Avaline's mind. "Despite his—" She grimaced. "— _eccentricity_ , he's actually highly qualified as a veterinarian."

"A much more useful day job than being the Champion or a Gym Leader," Arnaud said, examining Titania's wound. It was bleeding sluggishly.

Avaline felt a little sick. "Is she alright?"

Titania snorted and stamped her foot.

"Ah, just a flesh wound." Arnaud stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Though considering the type disadvantage, there was an impressive amount of power behind that jab."

Korrina nodded. "I don't think the body becomes that much stronger, but the momentum you can build up with that kind of speed… how did it feel to you, Avaline?"

She was busy watching Arnaud check over Queenie and took a moment to realise Korrina was talking to her. "Uh, she was wound up, I guess? I thought it might have been anticipation, but when I tried to smooth it out…" Avaline realised this explanation only made sense inside her head. "I mean, I thought I was calming her down, but instead I pushed her too far… I think she was frightened."

"So you accidentally triggered some kind of 'fight or flight' response," Korrina said. "That makes sense. How's Queenie?"

"Just exhausted, no major injuries or strains."

Arnaud looked at Ferdy and cleared his throat loudly. Then did it again when Ferdy remained perfectly still.

Korrina sighed. "Just… listen to him this once, Ferdy."

He sniffed, but went over and lifted Queenie in his arms gently.

"Thank you for volunteering to transport the patient!" Arnaud said cheerily.

Titania barked something, leaving her tongue hanging out. Another joke?

Ferdy's ears started to twitch.

"Um… thank you," Avaline said.

He glanced at her but walked on without any other acknowledgment. Ferdy still didn't like her much.

"We'll wait until Queenie has had a few days to rest before trying again." Korrina clapped a hand on Avaline's shoulder. "In the meantime, how about we try evolving your spritzee again?"

* * *

 

Brittany seemed to accept no longer being able to perch on Avaline's shoulders as a trade off for being much less likely to be squished.

It also meant her Heal Pulse ability received a boost, which made her invaluable for soothing the aches and pains from Queenie's mega evolution training. Avaline could now keep her calm enough that she wouldn't randomly attack anybody, but Queenie seemed too frightened to follow directions half the time, too.

When pressed, Queenie still insisted that she wanted to learn. Ariel and Titania were giving her some pointers on her days off. It was a kind thought even though Avaline wasn't sure how well their experiences would match with Queenie's. She hoped it made Queenie feel better, anyway.

In the evenings, she worked with Senshi on his water shuriken. There wasn't much she could do to help, since it was mainly just a case of Senshi practising until he was able to do it. He seemed to like her being there for support, though. Sometimes, one of her other pokemon would come to watch as well; even Atlas from time to time, though he hated water.

Two weeks into their stay, Senshi managed to do five water shuriken in a row.

Avaline hugged him. "Well done, Senshi!" But as she stepped back, she noticed that his webbed hands looked raw and painful. Her heart sank. "Just how much have you been practising? On your _own?_ "

Senshi lifted his head, unaffected by her attempt to scold him.

Atlas grumbled. Senshi nodded, so Avaline assumed it had been supporting him. It was naive of her to think that he was doing okay just because he hadn't been waking her in the night.

She sighed. What could she say to him? She couldn't promise they'd never be in danger again. "Please, just… don't hurt yourself like this. I don't want you to be hurt because of me."

Senshi made a low noise in his throat, becoming a little less rigid.

Perhaps that was the best Avaline was going to get for the time being. She smiled at him encouragingly. "Come on. Let's ask Brittany to take a look at your hands."

 

 

At last, Korrina decided it would be alright for Atlas to try mega evolution. Queenie had come a long way, and Atlas was itching to try it out too, even seeing how tired it left her afterwards, Maybe he just hoped he'd finally be able to win a race against Johto when mega evolved.

Avaline didn't care. She was just happy to see him doing better. He didn't think twice about flying now, and hadn't woken up in the night for the past week.

"Are you ready?" she said.

Atlas nodded.

His thread was eager and warm. When she pulled on it, the change to mega evolved Atlas seemed nearly seamless - eager, still, and only a little less warm; a touch more proud. He had a right to be. Atlas didn't change in size much at all, but she could see the additional bulk on his arms. He unfurled his wings like sails. They were _enormous._ Atlas examined them with interest. She guessed his fire attacks would be stronger in this form, too; even from a few feet away, he radiated heat.

It was only strange in contrast to Ariel and Queenie, but his thread seemed steadier somehow. More stable. When he looked at Avaline to see her reaction, it felt like it was _Atlas,_ and not the strange mixed personality that Ariel and Queenie became.

Korrina was watching the two of them carefully. Not only were Ferdy and Titania there, but Senshi as well. "He's good?"

"Yeah." Avaline grinned. She wanted to dance, to laugh. She hadn't really understood what Korrina meant when she said that mega evolution affected the trainers, too. With Ariel and Queenie, she'd been too worried about them. Now she really _felt_ it, energy under her skin, bursting out. The sun was warmer, the sky was a deeper blue, and when she breathed in, she tasted summer rain, the heavy scent of flowers and the sweat of previous Battle Tower workouts. _Could've done without that last one._

All the same, it felt magnificent. She could conquer the world.

"He's amazing."

_I can do this. I **will** do this._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Current team:  
> Greninja (M) - Senshi  
> Beedrill (F) - Queenie  
> Charizard (M) - Atlas  
> Aromatisse (F) - Brittany  
> Jolteon (M) - Johto  
> Lucario (M) - Ariel


	17. Intermission: Missing Links

With the problems at the Power Plant resolved, the electricity supply to Lumiose City was safe again, and the Gym reopened. When Calem walked out with a shiny new badge, he felt a momentary surge of triumph. Avaline didn't have this badge yet, and—

And… so what?

Calem looked at the badge again and sighed. Here he was again, comparing himself to Avaline. It was fun, at first, making Avaline a rival. But as she seemed to take to everything like a ducklett to water, Calem had begun latching on to technicalities to make the relationship feel equal.

_I guess it's true that old habits die hard._

Was it even important to do the Gyms now? Calem still planned to get as strong as possible to support Diantha, Korrina and Avaline in opposing Team Flare. But were the Gyms the best way of achieving that? Calem had never really thought about it before; he had always simply known he would have to complete all of the Gym challenges before taking on the Elite Four and the Champion.

_Did I really gain anything from this?_

He put the badge away in his display case and buried it at the bottom of his bag. Shauna was waiting for him at the Centre; Calem had promised that they would go to Laverre City after the battle – she wanted to see the Pokeball Factory. Calem had agreed because there was another Gym in that city, but…

Well, he didn't have a reason _not_ to go.

 

The atmosphere on the routes was more tense than it had been. Team Flare's takeover of the Power Plant had been on the news and although Avaline's identity hadn't been revealed, it was widely reported that a young trainer had been seriously injured. More than that, Team Flare seemed to take the widespread reporting as a sign to up their game – there were more reports of thefts of pokemon, more violence. Shauna had actually plotted the incidences on a graph (Shauna did those kinds of things) and told him that it was definitely an increase in activity and not only in reporting.

"Crime is up across the board," she said, biting at her lip. "I mean, before that there was a spike in—hmm, I wonder if—"

When Shauna started mumbling to herself like this, it was normally best to leave her alone until she'd started crying in frustration or come out with some spectacular insight. And later that night, she told Calem that she was pretty sure the Pokeball Factory was Team Flare's next target.

"What," Calem said, looking at his watch. It was two o clock in the morning. Shauna had been so distracted all day that they'd made poor time and resorted to camping. Which was normally fine, if you were actually _able to sleep._

"Look, I plotted all the incidences of pokemon theft _including_ ones not reported as Team Flare which no one has thought to do before for some reason but come on they can't wear orange all the time right? That's way too visible and identifies them as Team Flare immediately. Like undercover cops, you know!"

"I'm going back to sleep."

Shauna grabbed his wrist and shook her head, although this didn't stop Calem from throwing his sleeping bag over his face and trying his best to ignore her.

"No, because, _look_ , thefts went up in these areas surrounding Lumiose City not all at once but if you plot it you can _see_ as areas had small crime spikes and then went back to normal, which I'm pretty sure is Team Flare moving through the countryside until they were all assembled in Lumiose for the operation at the Power Plant which is why there was that _big_ uptick in crime right beforehand even though we didn't know that at the time—"

"Shauna."

"—And you can see the same uptick in the areas around Laverre City and I can't think of anything other than the Pokeball Factory which might be a target _although_ I suppose—"

"Shauna," Calem said, gritting his teeth. "I'll take your word for it. Please let me sleep."

Shauna let go of his wrist. "Oh, you're right! I'm so silly sometimes! If we're going to have to fight Team Flare soon we should be well rested! I'll just email Diantha and Korrina before I go to bed. Good night, Calem!"

 _Bad night, Calem,_ Calem thought grumpily.

He ignored the way that Shauna's casual _if we're going to have to fight Team Flare soon_ made him feel uneasy, and he struggled for a long time to fall back to sleep.

 

Laverre City was rather a quaint place. It was one of the few cities in Kalos that Calem had not been to before. Avaline would enjoy it; she seemed to like things with a distinct 'character'. Shauna was only interested in visiting the Pokeball Factory and meeting the Gym Leader – a fairy type specialist – to ask about her sylveon.

"Let's go to the Pokeball Factory first, though," Shauna said. "Korrina said she emailed the Leader, Valerie, about what I wrote, but let's be on the lookout too because you know adults can be rubbish sometimes."

 _If Diantha hadn't come, Avaline would have died,_ Calem didn't say. It was, he thought, a little cowardly to hope that Team Flare had already been and gone. Nevertheless, the thought _Avaline is better than me but Avaline still nearly died_ twisted round and round inside his head, forming a lump in his throat when he saw a familiar orange uniform standing at the Pokeball Factory gates.

Shauna sighed. "People should really listen to me more," she told Calem conversationally.

" _Do you think Avaline will be alright?" Shauna asked. Calem could visualise the worried expression on her face even if her layers concealed it. "Maybe one of us should—"_

" _I'm sure she'll be fine," Calem said, dismissive._

 _And it had been true, but there had also been an undercurrent of resentment, a vague thought that 'it would be nice to see her struggle, just for once'_ _but he hadn't_ _ **meant**_ _it, he hadn't meant it like that._

"They really should," Calem answered.

"You kids, scram!" the Team Flare said.

Shauna actually _rolled her eyes_ , which made the Flare look offended, and Calem's heart start beating wildly in his chest. But he couldn't leave Shauna, of course.

In the end, he needn't have worried, as _this_ Team Flare was obviously not on the level of Avaline's attacker. That realisation annoyed him, and he sent out Don – his strongest, now a chesnaught who towered over everyone – to just smash the Flare's pokemon until they ran away, back towards the town. Then Calem told Don to prize the gates open.

"I'm going to find the Gym Leader," Shauna said. Her Felix was still a braixen, which Calem had known but not consciously been aware of. "Be safe."

Shauna ran off and Calem's annoyance left him. He was just nervous again. He eyes the torn gates. Should be go in? He remembered the urgency he'd felt at the Power Plant, but he couldn't quite summon up that feeling here. Would Avaline go in? The old Avaline certainly would, he knew, but Calem had not spent enough time with this new Avaline to be sure.

(Calem remembered how it had looked when Diantha brought Avaline in, her hand blackening. Avaline had been still and unmoving in Diantha's arms, Senshi following them with an awkward gait, one leg sometimes limping, sometimes dragging. Shauna had to speak to the greninja very softly before he agreed to leave Avaline's side at all. Diantha's face had been hard and tired. It felt like a wish come true, in the worst possible way.)

But there might be people in danger, and he'd promised to help. Team Flare seemed to be getting more aggressive, more violent, Shauna had said. Maybe public knowledge of the Power Plant had made them feel like they didn't need to hide anymore.

 _Whatever they're planning, they must feel like they can pull it off, and soon,_ Shauna had said. _I hope Avaline's doing okay._

Calem called Don back, and sent out Angelika. She sniffed the air and her ears twitched this way and that, listening. If Calem had been thinking properly instead of just being scared, he would have had her out since they entered the city. Absol had a nose for trouble.

Calem thought of the stone in his bag, the one he and Avaline had found all the way back in Glittering Cave. White and black ran through the centre. Korrina had said that they had no idea which pokemon were capable of mega evolving. Calem remembered how the stone had seemed to sing to him, warm and familiar, and only later had he placed the feeling – Angelika, curled up to his side, affectionate and sleepy and relaxed, in the room they had to themselves in the Centre.

Without a key stone, that was just a possibility. It was a good reminder, though, of what Angelika was capable of. He breathed deeply and forced his feet to move.

The main building of the Pokeball Factory had frosted windows, but it wasn't enough to disguise the distinct, violent orange of Team Flare. Angelika pawed at the ground gently when she saw it, narrowing her eyes. That was where Calem went.

Since Team Flare hadn't been warned, they were careless, and he and Angelika were able to sneak inside without being seen. But the fact they were so casual about guard duty meant they expected the factory workers to be under control. Maybe Team Flare were being overconfident about that, but all the same, he should go in expecting there to be no backup.

The factory floor was cramped with machinery. Above it were a series of metal walkways and two rooms constructed on the wider platforms. Even though they were indoors, they still had two small windows at the front. One of them had two members of Team Flare standing guard outside. They looked bored, but still semi-alert. That might be the staff room, Calem thought, and possibly where they were keeping the employees. The rest of Team Flare seemed to be on the factory floor, gathering pokeballs. Maybe he could defeat the two guards quickly and help the staff to escape, at least.

There wasn't really a way to sneak to the staff room, but approaching from the side might give him more him time before they spotted. As he passed the other room, though, he heard raised voices, and stopped to listen in.

"…have already said, call me Xerosic." It was an older man's voice, gravelly and deep.

Somebody - another man - gave a nervous chuckle in reply. "Ah, well, that's…"

"Come now, we're all friends here, aren't we, Mr. Blanc? We're just having a friendly discussion."

"It could get less friendly," a woman said flatly.

They were obviously threatening someone. Maybe the boss? He peeked in through a window, trying not to attract the attention of the other two Team Flare.

There were only three people inside. One was dressed in a shirt and tie, sitting behind a desk. He looked red-eyed and there was a bruise forming under his right eye. He must be factory's manager.

The other two people were certainly Team Flare; both had the typical dyed orange hair. Like a few Flares Calem had seen at the Power Plant, the woman wore a white suit. He thought this marked her out as a higher-ranked member, but judging by the way she stood in the corner near the door, examining her orange-painted nails, he guessed that she wasn't in charge.

"Don't interrupt, Bryony," the other Flare - Xerosic - said. His voice had taken on a dangerous edge and Bryony clenched her fists but didn't respond.

Xerosic was the oldest Team Flare Calem had ever seen. He might even be in his fifties, although it was difficult to tell with his back to Calem and what was left of his hair dyed the obnoxious Flare orange. His build was stocky, but he wasn't in good shape, and his (orange, of course) outfit looked tailored to him nearly exactly, so he probably hadn't been in shape for a long time. Most trainers, even retired ones, kept at in shape chasing after their pokemon so—at a guess—he wasn't very serious about battling.

But from the way Bryony and the factory manager responded to him, he was obviously in charge. He raised a hand to scratch his cheek. "My apologies for the interruption, Mr. Blanc. What was I saying? Ah, yes, we already know that the company has been cooperating with Professor Sycamore on this project, so there's no use in lying about it…"

He descended into technical babble that Calem barely understood, but the phrase 'master ball' came up repeatedly. He'd heard of _that_ concept from his parents; a 'master ball' was supposed to be capable of catching any pokemon without fail, even those people normally regarded as _legendary,_ too strong to be caught by a trainer. According to rumour, a few such pokeballs had already been made in other countries. Calem wasn't sure what he thought about that. The idea that humanity might get to learn more about the legendary pokemon was appealing, but if the pokeball 'couldn't fail' to capture a pokemon… then they could also be caught against their will.

Were the Pokeball Factory working on making master balls too?

"I-I really wouldn't know," the manager protested. "Science isn't really my field." His voice shook.

Calem thought about stepping in, but if Team Flare were going to talk about their plans freely… they obviously needed the man for some reason, so he wasn't in danger yet. And if Calem managed to hang on long enough, Shauna would arrive with the Gym Leader in tow. He pulled out Don's pokeball just in case and kept a hand in Angelika's fur, ready to urge her forward.

"No need to be so modest!" Xerosic said. "You have a PhD in engineering from the University of Unova, do you not? A fine institution, even if I did not attend it myself."

Blanc's eyes darted around the room. He said nothing.

"We are merely interested in seeing the progress of the project so far," Xerosic added, after a long pause, coaxingly. "Hm? Come on now, good man, surely this information isn't worth the life of your colleagues."

Calem tensed.

The factory manager had begun to look ill. "I-I don't have… the authority—" he babbled. "I can't access it in lockdown—"

"Hm," Xerosic said again. "A shame. Bryony, could you ask the grunts to set the charges?"

Calem jerked back. _Are they going to blow the place up?!_

Bryony straightened. "Certainly, sir."

"Wait!" Blanc said. "I-I mean, that is…"

Calem tightened his grip on Don's pokeball. If it was that serious, stealth was the least of his concerns—

_Got in over your head again, Calem. Diantha and Korrina won't be coming to save_ _**you.** _

He pushed the thought aside, although his mouth was dry and he could barely hear what Xerosic was saying over the sound of his heart pounding.

"...you can do something about the lockdown after all?"

Blanc swallowed. "No, but—we have a prototype."

There was a long pause. Calem held his breath.

"A _prototype_ ," Xerosic repeated, in a voice that made Calem shiver. "That really is something, Mr. Blanc. Did you make it yourself? Your company should be proud of you."

Blanc, again, said nothing.

"Where is it." It was not a request.

Blanc bent over and there was the sound of a drawer opening.

Bryony scoffed. "It was in here all this time? I told you that we should have just searched the office."

"Yes," Xerosic said icily, "And I supposed you would have thrown it in with the other pokeballs _your_ team has stolen, and we'd have never realised what it really was."

 _They don't get along,_ Calem thought. _It's two against one, but they won't work well together. Not like my team._ He would have to get Blanc out of the line of fire quickly, though. He ran through battle plans in his mind. Don, for raw strength, and then Angelika to help Blanc—Nimbus, to harry and distract? But Calem had only added the swablu to his team recently and wasn't sure how he would react under pressure. Barbour was good at that sort of precision. It might also be wise to release all of them, but coordinating that many pokemon would be a difficult task—still, the more open platform here made it possible, and if he had two pokemon holding the both ends of the walkway (Miso and Don, they were the largest, the most sturdy), Bryony and Xerosic would be cornered and the grunts would only be able to attack one at a time—

Calem was only half paying attention to the conversation by now, so he almost missed it when Bryony said, "It looks just like an ordinary pokeball. Are you sure this thing can catch Yveltal?"

" _Yveltal?!_ " Blanc exclaimed, which about summed up Calem's reaction too. What would Team Flare want with the legendary pokemon?

Xerosic sighed. "Bryony, really, did you do that on purpose? Loose lips sink ships! We can't just go around killing everyone who overhears us, it wastes precious resources, you know!"

"I don't see what difference it makes if he dies now or later," Bryony said. "And he was annoying me."

 _That is definitely my cue_ , Calem thought, releasing Don from his pokeball.

It only took a sweep of Don's arm to completely rip away the wall and half the ceiling of the office space. Blanc immediately ducked under his desk whilst Bryony and Xerosic stared at Calem in open-mouthed astonishment, dust and debris falling over them.

Shouts were springing up all over the factory. Don tended to attract attention like that. Calem released the rest of his pokemon whilst they were still in shock.

"Angelika, help the man under the desk, do whatever you can, we'll make you an opening," Calem told her in an undertone, and then, louder, trying to draw Xerosic's and Bryony's attention, "Don, stop anyone coming up the stairs after us, Barbour—" Xerosic and Bryony had thrown out their own pokeballs, a liepard and a malamar, dark types, so Calem quickly changed plans. "—and Nimbus, take anyone coming at us from over there. Miso, you're with me."

There was a risk that Miso's attacks would have a little too much collateral damage, but Barbour would be no help against dark type and neither he nor Nimbus were sturdy enough to hold a path by themselves, the way that Don was.

He didn't have time to look to see how many Flares were coming; he had to get Mr. Blanc out of there first. "Miso, ice beam."

Xerosic and Bryony were both forced to move to the side, sheltered by their pokemon. Angelika leapt forward as Miso's ice beam faded, too fast for them to stop her, and Calem breathed a sigh of relief that Blanc at least had some protection.

"Who the _hell_ are _you?!_ " Bryony snarled.

Calem didn't answer. The next priority was to help Blanc get away somehow. _If I can force them into a corner, he'll have an opening; he may not be able to get to the ground floor but at least he'll be behind me, where he's more defendable—_

"Psychic," Xerosic said to his malamar; Calem ducked behind Miso for protection, but was confused when Miso didn't even look perturbed.

Then the platform he was standing on began to creak ominously. The platform that they were _all_ standing on.

" _What is wrong with you?!"_ Bryony shouted, as one of the supports came loose and the platform tilted at a sharp angle; she was clinging to one of the railings.

Xerosic only smiled; Calem tried desperately to _think,_ but Miso was heavy and didn't manoeuvre well, and his weight was only forcing the platform more off-balance—

The creak of the metal turned into a screech and the whole thing started to fall; even the Team Flare grunts had stopped fighting. In fact, most of them were retreating, scrambling inelegantly. The platform tore away from the right side of the walkway and Calem grabbed onto the railing as he lost his footing. He watched helplessly as Miso fell. There was an almighty _crash_ as the platform smashed into the conveyor belt, and Miso followed a second later, what was left of the conveyor belt buckling beneath his weight. Bryony was thrown clear, shrieking furiously.

Now at a nearly forty-five degree angle, Calem tried to use the railings as a kind of ladder, but Xerosic merely slid down like he did this all the time, picked his way through the wreckage. He must have recalled the malamar at some point, because it came out of its pokeball again now, and used its psychic energy to cut through the walls, then to open the gap wider—

"Miso!" Calem shouted, dropping the rest of the way. His feet slammed into the floor painfully, but he ignored it, helping Miso to his feet. His shell wasn't cracked, but he seemed shaken.

He understood Calem's unspoken order, though, and fired off a hydro pump. Xerosic jerked away from the opening at the last moment, looking irritated— _irritated,_ like Calem was nothing.

Calem gritted his teeth. He didn't have a better plan. "Just, just try to keep them pinned down, okay—"

Bryony had stumbled her way over, looking worse for wear. Her liepard was nowhere to be seen but she might have other pokemon.

Calem looked around, trying desperately to get his bearings. Up there, one arm looped around the railings, was Mr. Blanc. Barbour and Nimbus had been left stranded on the walkway; the stairs had come away completely and now Don was on the factory floor. Some brave, or maybe foolhardy, grunts approached him and he roared in challenge. _He'll be fine._ Calem remembered the other room, where he'd thought the employees might be being kept, and shouted for Barbour and Nimbus to check it out. _Where's Angelika—?_

He couldn't see or hear her. Calem clamped down firmly on his panic. He had to trust that she would be okay for now. Bryony had called out a pokemon, a bisharp— _she probably doesn't have more, she would have brought them out as well_ —and it was forcing Miso back.

Xerosic was just slipping out the opening he'd made in the wall. He was getting away with the prototype.

 _Should I follow him?_ If Avaline hadn't gone after those Flares in the Badlands, they would've almost certainly found the key stone and be able to access mega evolution. _But that was pure luck, Avaline could just as easily have been dead and Team Flare would have the keystone anyway—_

Calem had already written Xerosic off as _unlikely to be good at battles,_ but he had seen a way out immediately, and hadn't registered Calem as a threat at all. If Xerosic only had a few pokemon, then perhaps Calem could take him; but him team were scattered, and if Xerosic had more pokemon than Calem expected...

_The information about Yveltal is important, and we saved Mr. Blanc's life. Better to let him go._

Bryony was able to get away as well, leaving her bisharp to buy time without even a backwards glance. It kept fighting and wouldn't stop, even when Miso forced it backwards with another hydro pump. One of the Flare grunts shouted that their bosses had left, and they started to panic. Calem had no real way of rounding them up so he let them run for the exits. Maybe the rangers would pick up some of them later.

Once Don was no longer occupied with fending them off, the bisharp went down quickly, although it continued to struggle.

"Are you injured?" Calem asked Mr. Blanc, who was climbing down the railing towards the factory floor.

"Just bruised!" he said, giving Calem a small smile. "Thanks, kiddo, I don't want to think what would've happened if you hadn't been there."

Calem nodded, suddenly feeling exhausted. It could've been bad despite him being there. If Xerosic had decided to stay. If the Flare grunt at the gates had been able to come this way and given everyone advance warning. "Did you see where Angelika went?"

"Oh, your absol? I think I saw her jump over that way, after the liepard."

The debris of the office obscured Calem's vision. He cautiously picked his way through it until he spotted Angelika's distinct horn. She seemed unhurt, just a little grimier than normal. He wondered why she hadn't come to find him, until Angelika looked up at him. There was blood on her face, matting the fur on her neck. His heart skipped a beat. She ducked her head and stepped aside.

It was the liepard, and it was dead. A part of the walkway had fallen on it, crushing it. There was a pool of blood around the body. The liepard's eyes were glassy. Calem stared.

He jumped when he felt soft fur under his hand, but it was just Angelika. She looked at him with solemn eyes, then took a step towards the liepard. She glanced over her shoulder at him, tilting her head questioningly.

"Sorry, Angelika." Calem's mouth was dry. "There's nothing that can be done for her now."

Calem thought about the bisharp that Bryony had left behind. He thought about the way the liepard had sheltered her from Miso's ice beam, using its own body. How could you treat pokemon that loved you so much like they were disposable?

 

Shauna arrived not long afterwards, with Leader Valerie and her Gym Trainers, all dressed up in elaborate dresses as though they were life-sized dolls. Calem was starting to see Avaline's point about Gym gimmicks going a little too far sometimes.

Leader Valerie, however, was all professionalism when she asked Calem and the workers about what had happened.

"This Team Flare business has all gotten so serious so quickly…" she mused. "First the Power Plant, now they're planning to capture Yveltal? Whatever _for?_ "

 _Avaline might know,_ Calem thought. He'd have to email her about it later. "Well, there hasn't been a reported sighting of Yveltal for hundreds of years, so hopefully they won't be able to find it."

"I suppose we must hope for that." Valerie directed a glare at Blanc, who winced. "If you had told me about this prototype _yesterday_ when I told _you_ about the tip-off, I would have kept it safe for you."

"It was supposed to be top secret. I could've lost my job," he mumbled, defensively. "I don't know how they found out about it…"

Valerie sighed and turned back to Calem. "Come to think of it, you guys were involved in the Power Plant as well, weren't you?" He must have looked surprised, because she giggled a little. "I know your identities weren't released to the public, but the Gym Leaders _were_ informed. Anyway, I can't fault your actions considering how much danger Mr. Blanc turned out to be in, and at least you didn't try pursuing them by yourself… but be careful, won't you?"

Calem nodded. He didn't need to learn that particular lesson twice. "Is there any chance of catching them, do you think?"

"We'll certainly try, but it's unlikely." Valerie folded her hands together and they disappeared inside her enormous sleeves. "Two high ranking members like that probably had plans in place for a quick getaway."

That was what Arnaud said about the Badlands, and he'd been proved right. Was malamar one of the psychic types who could teleport? His mind was foggy and he couldn't remember. Not that it mattered much. It was the police and the Leader's concern now.

He hesitated before adding, "And… what about Team Flare's pokemon?"

Valerie grimaced. "We'll lay the poor liepard to rest as best we can. The bisharp… well, I'll do my best to find someone who'll be willing to work with him. Perhaps he can learn to be happy with some other trainer."

 _Perhaps._ Calem thought about the single-minded determination with which the bisharp had thrown itself into battle. Miso's defences were formidable, and yet, the bisharp alone had distracted Miso enough for Xerosic and Bryony to escape, and it had kept on fighting afterwards, buying them more time.

Could a pokemon that dedicated find someone else to attach themselves to? It was… difficult to picture.

Maybe Valerie sensed some of Calem's uncertainty because she smiled gently. "Hang around for a few days and I'll tell you how I get on after our battle, okay? And about the investigation, too. Only if you win, of course. Think of it as additional incentive."

Calem opened his mouth to say that he wasn't really planning on challenging her Gym, but she was already walking away, offering a few quiet words to one of her Gym Trainers.

"It seems like it was scary…" came Shauna's voice suddenly, making Calem jump. "I'm glad everyone's okay."

He thought about the dead liepard, and the distraught bisharp who had had to be physically pinned down by Don before it would let Valerie look at its injuries. Calem had heard one of Valerie's Gym Trainers whispering about how hard it was to rehabilitate trained pokemon when they were forcibly separated from their trainer. Calem wasn't sure how much this counted as 'forcible', but he could believe that it would be hard to find someone willing to work with a pokemon from Team Flare.

"…Calem?"

He realised that he'd completely ignored Shauna. "Sorry. It's just that... I still can't believe that woman would leave her pokemon behind like that."

"It seems to make sense for Team Flare," Shauna said. "They treat their own members as disposable. But it's still horrible." She nudged him gently. "Hey, Leader Valerie said we could leave now. Let's go get something to eat and go to bed. You and your team need to be well rested for taking on the Gym soon, anyway! I want to know how the investigation is going!"

Calem realised he hadn't told Shauna about _that_ , either. She seemed so determined not to be any different after what had happened at the Power Plant, Calem felt weird for wanting to talk about it. But then again, Shauna had always been particularly resilient.

"Yeah," he said, swallowing the lump in his throat. "Let's go."

 

In the end it seemed less difficult to battle Leader Valerie than it did to attempt to talk to Shauna about how he was feeling. (Calem did not tell Valerie this.)

It was a difficult battle. Two out of his five pokemon were weak to the fairy-type and of the remaining three, Nimbus was still not that great at battling. Nonetheless, Nimbus put in his best effort, and was able to nearly take out Valerie's first pokemon by himself. Barbour was able to finish that job, but eventually was put out of the fight by the sylveon. Miso had always been the major lynchpin of Calem's strategy for this fight, though, relying on his enormous bulk to pull through the last two pokemon.

"Ah… a hard fought victory." Valerie smiled. "And unlike most trainers, you didn't even have the luxury of being able to surprise me. That was the most fun I've had in a while, so thank you, and congratulations."

Despite everything, Calem felt a warm surge of pride.

"I always find that I seem to understand pokemon best when battling," Valerie continued, which seemed a bit of a non-sequitur. "Do you experience the same thing? I felt your sympathy for that bisharp yesterday, so my guess is that you do."

"I'd… never really thought about it like that before," Calem said. But how did he know the bisharp was so dedicated to Bryony? By the strength of its attacks, by the way it refused to back down.

"It makes a lot of sense when you think about it, doesn't it?" she said. "After all, pokemon naturally convey their feelings mostly through body language, so it makes sense that they display their feelings in the way they battle, too."

It was a poetic thought, when put like that.

"…Where was I going with this?" Valerie mumbled to herself. Calem was reminded very strongly of Shauna for a moment. "Oh! I know!" She clapped her hands together, although there was no recovering the impression of a wise elder. "Through our battle, I was able to see how much your pokemon respect and care about you. And you care for them, too—many trainers would have used their full team, despite the type disadvantage, hoping to overwhelm me with numbers. But you knew it would hurt them more, so you decided not to use them… and your pokemon, too, fought harder because they wanted to protect their friends from having to face me. Those are the sort of feelings that I aim to bring out as a Gym Leader, so I would be honoured if you would accept this badge from me."

Calem reached forward to take the Fairy Badge. Unlike in Lumiose City, the victory didn't feel so hollow. Maybe it was because he hadn't done it to compete with Avaline? In fact, he hadn't thought of Avaline at all.

Maybe this was what he'd been missing. He remembered at the beginning of his journey relishing the challenges offered by the Gyms. Avaline's easy success had soured the feeling, but… that was because he'd lost sight of what he was really competing for. He'd been so focussed on the idea that she might beat him to the Champion's seat that he started to see battling merely as a means to an end. Facing Valerie was the first time he had challenged a Gym Leader just for the sake of _challenging a Gym Leader_ since… since he and Avaline had both gotten a badge from Grant.

"Actually," Valerie said, interrupting his thoughts, "I had a favour I wanted to ask."

She drew a pokeball from somewhere inside her voluminous sleeves.

"This is the bisharp from yesterday." He sucked in a breath and she gave him a reassuring smile. "I thought about asking some of my acquaintances to take it, but… I thought that, even if it was as enemies, you and this bisharp have already come to understand one another a little. And after seeing you battle, I think you have the ability to show this bisharp what true loyalty is."

Calem looked at the pokeball for what felt like a long time. This wasn't the sort of thing that he could pass along to someone else if it got too hard. It could take months, even years, to get the bisharp to warm up to him at all.

But hadn't he promised Avaline he would help against Team Flare however he could? And wasn't this, in a small way, helping to undo some of the toxic influence of Team Flare?

_Except it's not a small thing for the bisharp._

Calem nodded, and Valerie smiled, folding her hands back into her sleeves as Calem put the bisharp's pokeball in his bag.

"Of course, I expect you not to be reckless, " she said. "You shouldn't be with him alone for a good long while yet. That chesnaught of yours will be excellent protection, though, and I have every confidence you'll win him over eventually."

 

Calem was _extra_ cautious when introducing himself to the bisharp, bringing out Angelika as well, who was fast enough in case the bisharp tried any sneak attacks. The bisharp was wary at first, making a strange hissing sound at Don and Calem looking around wildly. Don and Angelika didn't react and the bisharp accepted, eventually, that they weren't going to attack him. He still regarded Calem carefully, razor sharp forearms held in front of himself.

"Hi," Calem said. The bisharp hissed. Its hissing was high pitched, kind of like the sound of a boiling kettle. "You're going to be travelling with us for a while."

The next hiss was gentler, barely a sound at all.

"Yes, I know you already had a trainer. But I don't think she deserved you."

The bisharp took offence, and made to attack Calem with his arms raised—but Don's giant fist blocked his path. The bisharp made another high pitched, shrieking noise. When it stopped and Don moved his arm away, Calem saw that the bisharp was kicking the ground with its foot, almost petulantly.

It occurred to Calem that the bisharp might not even be that old. If Team Flare often had to replace pokemon—the implications of that thought made Calem feel nauseous—then the bisharp could have been pushed to evolve as quickly as possible. Don was still less than six months old and fully evolved, so he was proof that it could be done.

_What must your life be like, if all you'd ever known was Team Flare, and a trainer like Bryony?_

Calem put that thought aside for the time being, too.

"Anyway," he said, like there hadn't been any interruption, "since we'll be travelling together for a while, I thought I'd give you a name to make things easier."

The bisharp looked up at that, and then turn his gaze to his feet almost… guiltily? Did Bryony not even give it a name? It made sense, if Team Flare saw pokemon as disposable, but… it was a difficult idea for Calem to get his head around.

"I was thinking Rook had a nice ring to it. What do you think?"

The bisharp looked at him again, lingering. Then he turned away completely.

"Well, if you don't have any objections…" The bisharp— _I have to start thinking of him as Rook_ —didn't move at all this time. "…then Rook it is, I suppose."

All things considered, Calem thought their first meeting hadn't gone too badly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Calem:  
> Chesnaught (M) - Don  
> Meowstic (M) - Barbour  
> Absol (F) - Angelika  
> Blastoise (M) - Miso  
> Swablu (M) – Nimbus  
> Bisharp (M) – Rook


	18. Lessons Learned

Avaline took a deep breath and let it out through her nose. Then another. And another.

"Are you nervous?" Korrina asked, and then laughed when Avaline simply _looked_ at her. "Don't be! You've learnt a lot in the past month, and I think Diantha will be surprised by what you can do. Anyway, the point isn't necessarily to win, it's just to show us how much you've grown."

Avaline nodded, but she _wanted_ to win.

She really owed Diantha and Korrina so much – teaching her about mega evolution; Diantha had literally _saved her life._ Avaline wanted to impress them. She wanted them to know that mega evolution was in safe hands.

Avaline took another deep breath.

 _Korrina is right, though. I don't necessarily_ _ **have**_ _to win to show them that. I just… want to._

There was also the fact that this was, technically, a Gym Battle, even though it was being held in the battle tower and not in Diantha's official Gym. Avaline had yet to lose to a Gym Leader, and she didn't want to break her winning streak.

Avaline touched her key stone, which Korrina had had set into a bracelet. It was pretty inelegant, but Avaline had started to get used to having the weight around her wrist and now it felt sort of comforting. She could probably have something a little prettier made eventually, or only wear the bracelet when she was planning to actually use mega evolution in a fight; it was just more important right now that she was able to access it at all times.

There was a loud creaking sound as Titania pushed open the doors to the battle chamber. They were made from solid oak, about ten foot tall, and Avaline thought they were ridiculously impractical. Maybe she was just being petty because the sight of them made her feel even more queasy.

"Good luck!" Korrina said. Her voice echoed in the enormous space. She skated away to the tiny spectator stand. Arnaud gave her a thumbs up as Titania closed the doors again, taking her own seat in the stands.

Diantha was standing across the other side of the cavernous room, more serious than Avaline remembered seeing her. But when she spoke, she had the same light-hearted, friendly tone which Avaline had come to associate with her.

"Are you ready?" Avaline did not feel ready, but she nodded anyway. "Then select your first pokemon."

As Diantha was one of the few highly ranked trainers who didn't specialise in one type, ultimately most of Avaline's plans for opening gambits had come to nothing as she overthought every choice. She was at least pretty sure that Diantha wouldn't open with her gardevoir, but that still left a large variety of types which she could deploy.

So in the end, Avaline had just decided to go with who she trusted to leave a strong impression, regardless of who he was facing. "Senshi!"

"Nort!"

Diantha's aurorus – a rock and ice type, less bulky than the typical rock type and not nearly as fast as Senshi, although it was much larger than him. She beat Grant's amaura with Brittany and _Atlas._ Avaline nodded to herself. They could do this.

"Water shuriken, keep it off balance!"

"Nort, put up a barrier as soon as you can!"

Ah, so that was why Diantha had opened with the aurorus – a lot of Avaline's team was physically oriented so if Diantha could set up with the psychic type barrier, Avaline would have trouble breaking through. It could probably create a 'light screen' as well, which partially blocked the typing energy of moves. If it managed to get _both_ of those up, none of Avaline's pokemon would be able to do much damage, and she was nearly guaranteed to lose.

_But because it doesn't have a psychic typing, it's going to take a long time for Nort to set up both of them. We'll just have to play around the barrier._

Ideally, the aurorus wouldn't be able to set up a barrier either, but Diantha _was_ a Gym Leader so Avaline should probably not expect things to go so well as _that._

"Senshi, aim for the head!"

Nort tried to move its head out of the way, but it wasn't fast enough to avoid all five of Senshi's water shuriken. It let out a roar of pain which Avaline could feel through her feet. She didn't see any shimmer in the air which would mark a psychic barrier, so it looked like Senshi had stopped that attempt.

Senshi didn't wait for her next order, instead continuing to harass Nort with his water shuriken, targeting more vulnerable parts like his neck and underbelly. Nort attempted to sweep him away with its great tail, but Senshi leapt back too fast to be caught.

Then Diantha called out again. "Give yourself a bit of breathing room. _Thunder!_ "

A dark cloud gathered above Senshi and lightning crashed down. It was slow to charge, but powerful enough that Senshi didn't escape the blast radius in time. It wasn't the full effect of a thunder attack, but it was enough that a good three or four more blows would put Senshi out of the fight. Avaline swore under her breath. _I should've remembered! Grant's amaura had that electric paralysis attack..._

Without needing to be told, Nort created the barrier whilst Avaline was wrong footed. He seemed to realise that the barrier had gone up – maybe he spotted the shimmer too – because he turned to fire off more water shuriken. That move relied more on speed and accuracy than power, though, so Avaline wasn't surprised when the aurorus pretty much shrugged it off this time.

She bit her lip.

"Use thunder again!" Diantha shouted.

The aurorus reared up again, dark clouds gathering, but Senshi was more alert this time and dodged it completely.

Avaline's mind raced. _Right, now it's in Diantha's interest to be aggressive, use the time before the barrier fades to weaken Senshi; none of my other pokemon can threaten the aurorus in the same way so it could set up the light screen as well._

There was another lightning strike. Senshi let out a croak of pain and Avaline flinched. _Come on, come on! I can't spend too long thinking…_

The aurorus reared up, but Senshi knew what that meant and was able to get away—

Wait. Come to think of it… Nort had reared up _every_ time he went to use this electric attack. But the move was formed by gathering electric type energy; there was no physical movement required at all. Maybe it was a learning aid that had become a habit? Diantha did say that her two fossil-restored pokemon were new to professional battling and had only seen a handful of formal Gym battles between them.

It was risky, but—

Nort reared up on his hind legs again.

"Senshi!" Avaline said. "Stand your ground, water shuriken _now_ , as much power as you can!"

Senshi understood without her having to spell it out; he immediately fired off five water shuriken into Nort's exposed chest, visibly straining. Nort let out a cry of distress, and started to fall—

The lightning struck Senshi full on and Avaline flinched, but she thought it may have gone off too early because Senshi gave her an impatient look, waiting for her next order.

"Close the distance, then use waterfall."

The words had barely left her mouth before Senshi was gone. Diantha called out a warning, but the aurorus was too cumbersome to right itself easily, and couldn't mount any defence. Even with the psychic barrier, there was no way it could stand up to a waterfall from Senshi.

Diantha recalled Nort with a grim look and paused for a moment before choosing her next pokemon. _She's probably annoyed she lost that one because of a tic she didn't correct._

She would probably pick one of her more experienced pokemon to compensate. Maybe the gourgeist? It would resist Senshi's water shuriken, which could give it time to put him out of the fight. But he also could do a lot of damage to it if he managed to get close enough to use one of his dark-type attacks and Senshi was much faster than the gourgeist, so it was a serious risk.

Senshi retreated towards Avaline's side of the field. "You did great!" she told him. "I'm not sure who's coming out next, but just do your best to dodge their attacks as much as possible and hit them with your water shuriken. The longer you can hold out, the weaker the barrier will get, and the better everyone's chances will be!"

He nodded and crouched on the tip of his toes, ready to dodge at a moment's notice.

Diantha selected a pokeball. "Heelie! Let's finish this one quickly!"

It was the hawlucha which came out, posing defiantly. Not what Avaline had expected, but a pretty solid choice – fast enough to probably take out Senshi quickly, strong enough to do a decent amount of damage to whoever on Avaline's team came out next.

Senshi didn't need Avaline's orders this time, letting off a stream of water shuriken.

"Swords Dance," Diantha said.

The hawlucha didn't even try to dodge Senshi's attacks. It simply powered through each hit, performing a complicated set of manoeuvres that resembled a dance – what gave the move its name.

_Oh crap, this could go badly._

"Senshi, again! As much as you can!" Avaline cried, slightly panicked. 'Swords Dance' was an unusual move, taking the user's own energy and redistributing it internally, pushing each limb to its limit. It could do serious muscle damage if it wasn't used carefully, but in the hands of an experienced trainer…

Heelie had finished his Swords Dance now. He sprang forward, jumping _into_ Senshi's water shuriken and tackling Senshi to the ground. He didn't get up. Avaline winced and touched one of his webbed hands. Senshi let out a reassuring croak before being recalled.

Heelie returned to Diantha for an extremely restrained high five.

 _Who next?_ The obvious answer was Brittany. Hawlucha weren't very resistant to special attacks, and the fighting-type was weak to Brittany's fairy typing. There _were_ two other pokemon Brittany might be useful to deal with – Diantha's dragon types, goodra and tyrantrum. The goodra, though, wouldn't be able to do much more than scratch Brittany, so she should still be able to hold her own even if she took a few hits now. The tyrantrum was a dual rock-type so Ariel could potentially handle that one.

But something nagged at her… she'd just seen Diantha's aurorus use an electric-type move as a counter to Senshi, and Avaline's aromatisse was a huge problem for Diantha…

 _What if she_ _ **wants**_ _me to bring out Brittany?_

If Brittany went down now, then Diantha's goodra would be a huge problem – they were _literally_ slippery and it would be difficult to deal a good amount of damage to it, _and_ it had solid defences. Trusting that Ariel would be able to take out the tyrantrum was risky, as well. Lots of rock-type pokemon made excellent use of earthquake. Brittany by herself did not quite invalidate those two pokemon, but she would make it hard for Diantha to make the best use of them.

_Besides, I do have another pokemon strong against Heelie…_

"Johto, you can do it!" Avaline saw Diantha frown for a moment and suppressed her own smile. Johto was, literally, buzzing with energy, his fur static with electricity. "Be careful, though, Heelie is very strong. Try not to get hit if you can. _Thunderbolt!"_

Johto, not the most strategic of pokemon at the best of times, charged forward whilst gathering electricity in his fur. Avaline sighed. _At least he's having fun…_

He was fast enough to catch Heelie by surprise. The hawlucha took the Thunderbolt straight to the chest, but Johto had gotten in too close, and Heelie's counterattack caught him full on. Johto was sent tumbling away, mewling piteously.

"I told you!" Avaline said, exasperated. "Come on, he's coming again! Dodge!"

Johto seemed to take it more seriously then, staying light on his feet and skittering out of the hawlucha's range. He wasn't able to land any good hits himself, either, but Avaline thought that Heelie was starting to get a little frustrated. Without prompting from Diantha, he started using a variety of different attacks, some of surprising types. At one point, Avaline saw purple gather around the hawlucha's fist, and when he executed the move (Johto dodged again), she recognised it as a Poison Jab.

"That was supposed to be a _secret!_ " Diantha chided. She met Avaline's eyes and shrugged, smiling ruefully. "Although I don't think you were going to fall for it anyway…"

But Johto was still inexperienced and eventually began to tire. When the hawlucha was able to hit him with its unique Flying Press move, he struggled to stand and Avaline called him back. _He got in too close with that first Thunderbolt and wasn't able to regain distance._

Heelie, despite taking a beating, didn't look so bad. Avaline was pretty sure he wasn't as well off as he looked and he'd go down in one or two hits, but he could be operating in nearly-top condition until then. She supposed it made sense, if your strategy relied on Swords Dance, to train to fight at your best for the whole battle. Maybe Swords Dance itself was helping him to move well? (Something to look into later.)

_I need someone who can take Heelie out quickly… that Poison Jab could be trouble if it actually hits anyone, and I definitely don't want to send out Brittany, so my next best choice is…_

"Come on, Queenie!"

Queenie shook her giant stingers in challenge as Avaline gave her the same warning that she'd given to Johto. Queenie took it a little more seriously than he did, flying higher than normal to make it more difficult for the hawlucha to reach her – despite being a flying type, it didn't actually fly.

Heelie stalked the ground beneath Queenie for a while, maybe hoping that she would lose energy and have to come down. But Queenie was completely fresh and used to following Avaline around all day; she could be up there for a long time. The hawlucha turned back towards Diantha in frustration, who frowned thoughtfully, examining the battlefield. Avaline knew what she was weighing up. Risk Heelie using Flying Press, which would make him vulnerable to the more manoeuvrable Queenie, or withdraw him to potentially be useful later, even though Swords Dance would wear off and he might not be able to set it up again?

After a moment Diantha nodded and pulled out Heelie's pokeball. Avaline had been hoping that she would let him stay out, but it kind of took Swords Dance out of the picture anyway; she shouldn't really complain.

Diantha's next choice was her tyrantrum, Roxy, which… yeah, Queenie was not facing _that._ Avaline recalled her immediately and sent out Brittany instead. Diantha just seemed resigned to it at this point.

"Brittany, moonblast!"

As much as Brittany was a strong choice against the tyrantrum… her physical defences were not impressive, and Roxy was incredibly strong and certainly faster than Brittany. Diantha must know this too, so Avaline was keen to do as much damage as she could to the tyrantrum before she had to recall Brittany, who she was still planning to save to take care of the goodra.

Avaline was still surprised, though, when Diantha said, "Head smash!"

The tyrantrum lowered its head and _ran._

"Ohhh no, Brittany, move!"

Roxy couldn't see very well charging ahead at full tilt, so even Brittany's slow scurry out of the way was enough to make the attack miss entirely. Avaline dived out of the way as well, and Roxy crashed into the wall, which seemed to tremble slightly.

"Diantha, _try_ not to bring the whole tower down on our heads, will you?" Korrina called. Avaline didn't know how she could be so blasé about it. She hoped that meant the tower had suffered worse without collapsing.

Roxy pawed the ground with her feet, chastised, and let out a low grumble. She seemed to be trying to apologise?

Avaline took advantage of the distraction to check in with Brittany. "Hey, are you okay? Do you want me to try swapping Ariel in? I didn't realise Diantha would go for an attack quite that powerful…"

Brittany let out a trill of protest and punched the air. She looked like a diva but Avaline knew she was just being enthusiastic.

"Do you think you can actually take one of those hits?" Brittany nodded her head rapidly. "Are you sure or are you just saying that because you're a glory-hog?"

The aromatisse planted her hands on her hips, narrowing her eyes.

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry!"

There was an uncertain rumble from Roxy, suddenly. Avaline turned to see Diantha wave her pokemon over. Roxy obediently trundled back towards her position. "Sorry for the distraction, everybody! Let's continue."

Avaline's cheeks were a little pink; she was pretty sure _she'd_ been the one holding things up that time, but it was kind of Diantha not to say anything. It wasn't like the 'reset' was completely in Avaline's favour, anyway, since Head Smash really needed a serious run up. She still privately thought that Brittany probably would go down to one head-on collision and decided to swap her out for Ariel if the tyrantrum so much as _clipped_ her.

"Start getting another Moonblast ready, Brittany."

Diantha didn't even have to say anything this time, Roxy just put her head down and charged. Avaline had half been hoping that Diantha would change attacks. She backed away a little just in case Roxy misjudged again

Brittany held her ground. The energy for the Moonblast attack as gathering above her head, a visible ball of white glow. Roxy was approaching at rapid speed.

"Brittany, what are you _doing?_ " Avaline said. Just because Brittany had seemed convinced she could tank a Head Smash didn't mean Avaline had expected her to just sit there and _take one._

She probably should've shown a little more faith, because by the time Roxy was upon Brittany, the Moonblast was nearly the size of the tyrantrum's head. When Brittany threw it, Roxy staggered and lost momentum. When she crashed into Brittany it wasn't at full power, but it still sent the her flying. Avaline winced each time Brittany bounced before she eventually came to a stop.

"Brittany, that's enough, come back now." She let out an indignant shriek of protest, but Avaline was having none of it. "It was a good plan, but too risky. Just look at yourself!"

With a little more coaxing and a reminder that she would be coming back later to fight Diantha's goodra, Brittany finally consented to going back into her pokeball. _I think evolution has puffed up her ego too much,_ Avaline thought ruefully. _She needs her head deflating. Maybe I_ _ **should've**_ _let her get stomped by Roxy…_

Well, not really, but having to fight with her own pokemon like that under the gaze of Diantha, Korrina and Arnaud had turned Avaline's face as red as a tomato out of embarrassment, she just knew it.

She did her best not to dwell on it and called out Ariel instead. He casually bumped fists with her by way of greeting.

"Lucario, so soon?" Diantha said. She seemed surprised, and Avaline had to fight _hard_ to suppress a grin of anticipation.

_She won't know what hit her._

But first, the tyrantrum.

"Aura sphere, before—"

Ariel was already moving to obey. Having been the Champion's pokemon for some time, he probably didn't need Avaline to tell him that lots of rock-type pokemon also carried Earthquake, or that it would _hurt_.

Avaline was used to fighting-type attacks nearly always being physical moves. It was strange to watch Ariel's aura sphere which seemed more like a psychic move. It looked like little more than a heat shimmer, but somehow Ariel was able to direct it, which was how _aura sphere_ came to be known as an attack that never missed. Perhaps it was to do with the psychic typing that lucario were speculated to have at one point.

The tyrantrum had obviously fought Korrina's lucario before and didn't even try to evade Ariel's attack. Instead, Avaline saw Roxy raise her foot; she braced herself. Ariel's attack hit the tyrantrum just as its leg touched the ground. Roxy crumpled with a roar of pain, but that didn't stop the ground from shaking. Avaline managed to keep her feet although her teeth seemed to be rattling in her skull, but Ariel fell to his knees and made a small noise of distress.

Avaline wasn't an expert, but she knew that at one point earthquake and magnitude were considered to be the same move until one trainer's pokemon had managed to refine the distribution of earth-type energy in a more consistent way. That was the version of the move which had been copied and was still the version used in the Technical Machine. (At least in Kalos – the rumour was that a Kanto Gym Leader had managed to create a better version and a personalised Earthquake TM, but he'd only shared it with a handful of people who impressed him and it was probably an urban legend.)

When the rumbling stopped, Avaline saw that Diantha had already returned Roxy to her pokeball. Ariel was managing to climb shakily to his feet and couldn't stop the grin that split her face. She'd had faith that Ariel would only need one shot to take down the tyrantrum.

Diantha paused before releasing her next pokemon, even though the pokeball was right in her hand. "I was planning to save Pirouet for last," she said, "but, if you've sent out Ariel this early…"

Her gardevoir emerged, giving Avaline an elegant bow before Diantha took a deep breath and touched the necklace which held her keystone. A white light surrounded the gardevoir, and when it cleared, Avaline was facing the ballgown-like gardevoir she'd seen in the Badlands.

The pressure wave, again, hit like a physical weight. Avaline had to forcefully remind herself to breathe. It didn't feel quite as oppressive as it had in the Badlands, though, and her head was clear. She wasn't sure if that was because she wasn't feeling as scared as she had then, or if it was that Pirouet wasn't seriously trying to hurt anyone.

Diantha seemed to be eyeing the key stone in her bracelet expectantly. Avaline felt slightly giddy imagining the look of surprise on Diantha's face.

She caught Ariel's eyes, and he nodded. She recalled him to his pokeball.

"What—?"

Diantha looked even more astonished when she sent out Queenie. The beedrill flew a small circle in excitement, and Avaline gave her a smile. She touched the key stone at her wrist and breathed out slowly. The connection to Queenie was the only thing she was aware of for a moment.

She couldn't help but grin at seeing Diantha's shocked expression. Korrina was actually _laughing._ Arnaud spluttered and seemed to struggle to find words. "What the—since when—? _Korrina, why didn't you tell me about this?!_ "

Avaline waited for Diantha to turn her attention back to the battle before gesturing. Queenie zoomed away, leaving a wind in her wake that nearly took Avaline's hat off. She held on to it, laughing at the feeling of exhilaration despite all her intentions of seriousness. When Queenie was mega evolved, Avaline's nerves seemed to be strung out like wire, but everything feel more thrilling, even a friendly battle.

She remembered herself in time. "Poison Jab!" she shouted across the battlefield.

Diantha's gardevoir was probably faster than normal too, but she couldn't compare to Queenie for speed. Diantha shouted something; Pirouet attempted to turn Queenie aside, maybe with psychic energy, but Queenie's momentum was too much and she jabbed the gardevoir with her abdomen stinger, making Pirouet stagger and nearly topple over. In fact, Avaline was half convinced the gardevoir would've literally rolled over if she hadn't used her psychic powers to balance herself.

"Don't let up yet, Queenie! Twineedle!"

The first of her giant hand-stingers, like jousting lances, just ghosted the side of Pirouet's head. The second penetrated the folds of her ball-gown like skirt, but the gardevoir acted like she had been physically struck, letting out a cry of pain that seemed to make the air shiver. Pirouet raised an arm and brought it down like a hammer, throwing Queenie back without ever touching her. Queenie's wings beat so fast they seemed nearly invisible, and she only just stopped herself from crashing into the wall.

"Psychic!" Diantha called.

Pirouet's attack was like a wall coming towards them, the psychic energy visible as a rainbow. But it didn't reach all the way to the ceiling…

"Queenie, up and over! Get in close and use Poison Jab again!"

Queenie kicked up a pile of dust when she shot up towards the vaulted ceiling. To Avaline's horror, the gardevoir actually tried to _turn_ the energy after her, making motions like it was grabbing the top half of the 'wall' and flipping it. But that seemed to weaken the energy somehow, dissipating it and making it less solid. Queenie only shuddered a little and kept going, dropping towards the gardevoir like a stone.

The remnants of Pirouet's attack hit Avaline and made her feel woozy for a moment, so she didn't quite see what happened next. When she recovered her bearings, Diantha was grimacing and the gardevoir was holding one of its arms to its side and kind of _wilting_ and using the remaining arm and small bursts of psychic power to fend off Queenie's Twineedle.

_Did we actually poison it?_

She wished that Queenie would give her some kind of clue, but it had been hard enough to get Queenie to listen to direction at all in her mega evolved form.

Diantha's gardevoir was looking haggard now; her breathing was laboured, and she was listing like a sinking ship. Avaline hesitated a little, wondering if she should order Queenie to pull back a little, but Diantha didn't seem concerned, just determined. Queenie was moving around so fast that Avaline couldn't get a clear picture of what was going on, so she wasn't sure what orders to give anyway. She kept her focus on the pair of them, watching carefully for a moment when she should step in—

Then suddenly Pirouet let out a harsh, shrieking sound and sent out another wave of energy, pushing Queenie away; Queenie righted herself in the air, angling for another attack, but the gardevoir had formed a Psychic attack right behind the push, which Queenie couldn't avoid. She shuddered and shuddered and then seemed to shrivel, the mega evolution losing form as she lost consciousness. Avaline cursed under her breath, fumbling with Queenie's pokeball as Pirouet raised her arm—

"Hold," Diantha said, sharp and firm. Pirouet's arm stayed raised, and the air crackled with unreleased energy, but she didn't loose her attack until Queenie was back into her pokeball—and then it was just a directionless force which did little more than ruffle Avaline's hair. With her connection to Queenie suddenly gone, she felt strange, blinking as though trying to be rid of spots in front of her eyes, but her vision was clear. Even though the air was still heavy with Pirouet's power, it also seemed thin, and it took her a few slow breaths to stop feeling light headed.

After a moment, she realised that the battle wasn't actually over, and she still needed to choose another pokemon to come up against Pirouet. Even hobbling and poisoned, the weight of the psychic energy in the air was a firm reminder that Avaline couldn't take her lightly. She couldn't possibly send the injured Ariel or Brittany out against even a severely weakened mega evolved pokemon, so there was really only one choice.

"Atlas."

Avaline had the idea of using Atlas's Charizardite to mega evolve as well, but she'd only sort of gestured with it in his direction before he let out a snort of derision. Atlas flat out refused to use his mega evolved form against anyone weaker than him, which had made practising moderating the power of his fire breathing… difficult. Even a Gym Leader's mega evolved pokemon wasn't worth the effort if they were already injured, apparently. Avaline sighed. It was probably for the best; Korrina would have shouted at her about overexerting herself, anyway. And the reaction to Queenie mega evolving had been better than she expected.

"Okay, Pirouet is already poisoned so we just need to outlast her."

Atlas snorted again.

"Yes, I know you won't actually do that, but just… don't be too reckless?"

Atlas announced that he was bored of her sass by leaping into the air, circling around the battlefield. Pirouet followed him warily, not making any moves for the time being. Perhaps the gardevoir was trying to conserve energy? But that was a werid strategy to choose when poisoned, even if Avaline had just announced that Atlas wasn't the kind of pokemon to just dodge her attacks and wait it out. It occurred to her belatedly that she maybe should have kept that part to herself. _Oh well._

Suddenly, Atlas dropped like a stone towards Pirouet. Avaline realised she hadn't been paying attention to the battle. She should probably do that. Her brain felt fuzzy and it was hard to think. Maybe Diantha had been planning to keep Pirouet saved for last because of this, letting Avaline fight at her best. Avaline must've been spending too much time with Atlas because the thought pissed her off.

Atlas was on the ground. When did that happen? Avaline blinked, realising that her eyes had gone unfocussed.

She was paying enough attention to realise that it would've been better for Pirouet to hit Atlas with another attack whilst he was down and not very manoeuvrable, but for some reason the gardevoir let him get off into the sky again. Avaline saw Diantha's lips moving a little, speaking in an undertone to Pirouet.

_Concentrate. Concentrate!_

Avaline watched Atlas circle again. Pirouet tried to follow him around the room, tracking him with her eyes, but he swooped suddenly and when she failed to turn her head in time, he dived—

And some kind of psychic energy grabbed him and threw him to the floor. He landed awkwardly, just managing to get his wings tucked under him.

"Is that what happened last time?" Avaline realised she had asked that out loud. Might as well go with it. "Don't keep doing the same thing if it's not working, Atlas, you dummy."

Atlas snorted, offended, and decided to ignore her.

It was very strange, though. Avaline was sure she had seen Pirouet move faster than that when fighting Queenie, and Atlas was a lot slower than she had been.

 _Did she get hurt more than I thought?_ Avaline wondered. But Diantha didn't seem very worried and surely she'd notice if something was wrong.

Pirouet did the same thing again, losing sight of Atlas for a moment, and Atlas dived. But this time he pulled up at the last second and tried to attack from a different angle. Awkwardly, the gardevoir shoved him back. Atlas didn't even hit the ground that time.

Was she… doing it on purpose, trying to lure Atlas in? But why? It seemed like a strange thing to do, definitely riskier than throwing psychic attacks at Atlas from a distance, and likely to leave more to do for Diantha's next pokemon.

The next pokemon… oh, Diantha still had her gourgeist, didn't she? That was a grass- and ghost-type, so sneaky but easily burnt.

Avaline looked up at Atlas. He was circling _again_. Could ghost types even sneak up on pokemon when they were in the air? Most ghost types didn't do much more than hover. She remembered suddenly how awkwardly Atlas had landed, nearly directly on his wing, if he hadn't managed to tuck it under his body in time. Oh. Oh, well, that made sense.

"Atlas!" Avaline shouted. "She's trying to break your wings! Come down and uselessly breathe fire at her instead!"

Atlas roared something uncomplimentary, but he did come down to land, so Avaline happily pretended that he hadn't said anything at all. Especially since she was right and Atlas's attempts at Flamethrower barely even touched Pirouet. Atlas took to the air a few times to dodge the gardevoir's attacks.

Diantha seemed to mumble something when Pirouet's mega evolution eventually faded, but Avaline didn't catch it. Diantha pulled out another pokeball and sighed. "Time to get this over with, I suppose."

It was the gourgeist. Avaline felt a little surprised, but then again, if Diantha had chosen one of her other pokemon, Avaline would probably have simply swapped Atlas out anyway.

Atlas let out a loud roar, opening his jaws wide. He must have been trying to intimidate the gourgeist, because when he got no reaction, he looked back at Avaline, dissatisfied.

Even if the gourgeist _was_ kind of nervous right now, it was almost certainly too well trained to show it. "Don't look at me, I'm not scared of you either," she said.

Atlas huffed.

Diantha struggled to suppress a smile, but was happy enough to take advantage of Atlas's distraction. "Nyx, sneak!"

The gourgeist's shadow seemed to darken somehow, and then it snaked out, quick as a flash, and struck Atlas before he could get off the ground. Atlas growled and let out a blast of fire that left the gourgeist smoking and blackened in places before he took off into the sky. Avaline winced. Ghost-types, even by the standards of pokemon, were difficult to damage permanently, particularly with physical attacks. Their bodies were… somehow partially disconnected to the ghost's actual spirit, or _essence,_ to use the technical term. It was probably something to do with the fact that ghost-type pokemon were the only ones who were known to appear spontaneously. It was these ghost-types that were the origins of all the awful stories you could find online, although they could breed like normal pokemon and ghost-types hatched from eggs seemed to lack that… malice. Dianth's Nyx was probably a hatched pokemon and couldn't curse anyone with her singing.

Still, Avaline breathed a sigh of relief when the gourgeist was defeated easily by Atlas. Atlas let out a puff of smoke from his nostrils and only looked disappointed.

Diantha's goodra, Knightley, was next, and Avaline swapped out Atlas for Brittany even though he actually seemed to perk up a bit at the prospect of fighting it, the dork.

Goodra, Avaline thought, was definitely one of the weirdest pokemon native to Kalos. She would literally never have pegged it as a dragon-type based of its pre-evolutions, and even the final form only resembled the typical dragon if you tilted your head to the side and squinted. It didn't help that it had a sort of permanently vacant expression which made it difficult to read.

Avaline remembered Shauna's text from a few weeks ago and smiled to herself. _I caught a sliggoo! Aren't they great? It's kind of gooey but really cute. And one day it'll be a big goodra like all the knights have in old stories!_

Brittany was extremely pleased to be out on the field again and doing her important job of fighting the goodra. Avaline smiled at her enthusiasm, but found herself blinking suddenly, Brittany's face out of focus. She took a deep breath, but it didn't seem to help any. Brittany's got closer and she was making small, urgent sounds of interest.

"I'm okay," Avaline said, but she wasn't sure it was true.

She felt very light headed again, and very unbalanced – like she was at sea, only she looked down at her feet and they were steady. She really wanted to sit down all of a sudden, but the idea seemed to churn through her head so slowly, and her limbs seemed so heavy… Avaline tried to take another deep breath, hoping the feeling would pass, but she could sense darkness at the corners of her vision and she was falling, falling—

 

 

When Avaline woke up, she remembered everything all in a rush, and immediately felt her cheeks flush in embarrassment. She'd been trying to impress everyone, and she'd ended up _fainting,_ of all things. Korrina must be so disappointed with her as a successor.

Someone had placed her in the bed she had been using during her stay at the Battle Tower, but she was still in her day clothes, and there was light coming in from the window. It probably hadn't been too long. Maybe they would let her pick up where she left off? Avaline sighed. They probably would have had her pokemon healed by now. It wouldn't be the same thing.

_But I was so certain I could do it! Brittany could handle Knightley easily, and then surely Atlas and Ariel between them would be able to handle the Hawlucha…_

There wasn't really any way of knowing for certain, though. Diantha was also an experienced Gym Leader and was bound to have some tricks up her sleeve. Still. Avaline had felt… confident. _Good._ She hadn't felt that way for ages. Her training in mega evolution had felt so _urgent_ , she hadn't wanted to waste a single day—

Maybe that was why she'd fainted. Korrina had warned her that mega evolution was taxing on the trainer as well as the pokemon. Avaline had somehow managed to obtain three different mega stones which matched with her pokemon, which meant they could all have rest days without her having to let up her training, but… she hadn't really had a rest herself.

Avaline sighed again and forced herself out of bed. The room was empty apart from her and her things—her pokemon were probably recuperating somewhere. She looked down at herself and grimaced. Her favourite dress was wrinkled from being slept in. Curse Korrina and Diantha for just casually leaving her in it! Alright, maybe Korrina hadn't realised, since she seemed to wear mostly spandex purely for practicality, but Diantha was an _actress_ who wore top fashion icons at least once a week and always looked stunningly put together. Surely _she_ should have spared a thought for Avaline's poor dress.

It wasn't a huge deal as there was no one else sharing the rooms with her, which meant there was also no one here to judge her for running a hot shower just to let the steam straighten out her dress – an old trick that her mother had learned at one point, and probably the only bit of useful fashion advice Avaline had ever received from her.

She stopped off to look in the courtyard, where her pokemon were enjoying themselves despite the chill in the air. Atlas was sitting near to Queenie, who was being fussed over by Brittany. Queenie shook one of her giant stingers in protest only to have Brittany slap it away and start to lecture her. She turned to Atlas for help, but he pretended to be engrossed in Johto trying to do some kind of trick with… what seemed to be two pair of Korrina's roller blades. Senshi saw her looking and nudged Ariel, who waved and none-too-subtly tried to block her view of Johto.

Avaline hid a smile behind her hand and left them to it.

She found Korrina, Arnaud, and Diantha were gathered in the kitchen, sat at the breakfast bar – apart from Diantha who was sat on one of the counters. She had a mug of coffee so strong that Avaline could smell it from the other side of the room. Diantha waved with a bright smile. "Glad to see you're feeling better! Would you like some?" She gestured at the coffee brewer, which had a proper name that Avaline had forgotten.

Coffee seemed to be _the_ drink in Kalos and Avaline had yet to acquire a taste for it, but she was especially opposed to the absurdly strong blend which was Diantha's drink of choice. "Ah, no thanks."

"Glad to see you feeling better!" Korrina put in.

"I made you some tea," Arnaud said, to Avaline's relief.

It wasn't quite the fruity tea she had taken to drinking in Kalos, but it felt warm and comforting and helped to chase away some of the coffee stench clogging up her nose. For a moment, no one said anything. Avaline thought she would have to be the one to raise the topic and mentally prepared herself, staring into the depths of her tea.

Diantha cut in before she was finished rehearsing. "You did so great! I'm really impressed!"

Avaline looked up in surprise. "But… I…"

"Oh, do you mean the fainting?" Diantha said casually, and Avaline blushed. "Don't worry about that – you should've seen the first time Pirouet and Ferdi fought whilst mega evolved! I passed out in the middle of the match and when I woke up I threw up all over Korrina!"

"I remember it a little less fondly," Korrina said dryly. "But she's got the right idea. For the first time using mega evolution in an actual battle, you didn't do too badly."

"I've managed to have Queenie mega evolved for longer without fainting," Avaline grumbled.

"It's a little different when it's a battle – I mean a real battle, not just some practise swings. It takes more energy from you, to sustain it whilst your pokemon is fighting; also, I think there might be a huge adrenaline crash when a mega evolved pokemon faints, but we haven't been able to test that ourselves..."

"I'm sure Professor Sycamore would be happy to help us," Diantha said cheekily.

Korrina groaned and buried her face in her hands. "Don't start _this_ again."

Avaline looked to Arnaud expectantly, but he just shrugged. "I've never met the man, I have no opinion about his trustworthiness."

"He's been asking how my studies are going, so I have to say _something_ ," Avaline said. It had actually only been a very minor detail tacked onto a long email asking how she was getting on and offering to send her what research he had on how pokemon coped with traumatic events _and_ put together a therapy program if any of her team needed it. But Avaline wanted Korrina to do something other than 'sit and wait', so she didn't mention that bit. "There's also what Calem and Shauna said about the Pokeball Factory. If Team Flare are trying to find Yveltal… I think it has something to do with the ultimate weapon in that old story! I know I said that before, but…"

"We don't have any proof that old story is true, or that Team Flare are interested in the weapon if it _is_ true," Korrina answered. Like last time.

"But if we could prove mega evolution was real and that they'd been looking for key stones, we could at least make people aware of the possibility, and Professor Sycamore backing us up would give the idea more legitimacy," Avaline said.

"If we tell Augustine, it's possible he won't even spread the knowledge around too much." Diantha had been Avaline's main ally in this line of argument, but this was something she hadn't said before. "He's very influential and, as a pokemon expert, he gets consulted on a lot of cases high profile cases. I understand that the authorities are taking that approach with the Team Flare situation, too."

"He doesn't know anything more than I do," Korrina said. "I am the Champion, you know."

"But they only call you if there's fighting that needs to be done," Diantha pointed out. "And they normally go through the local Leaders or Rangers first. Augustine gets consulted for intel all the time. He might recognise a connection between Team Flare and mega evolution before you even know there's a Team Flare situation at _all_. But only if he knows what he's supposed to be looking for."

Korrina didn't answer. She closed her eyes. Avaline found herself holding her breath.

"Alright," Korrina said eventually. "Avaline, tell him you'd like to talk to him in person in… where are you meeting up with your friends? I'll come with you and spill the beans."

Diantha gave Avaline an excited grin.

Calem had sent her a text a few days ago saying they were planning to visit Shauna's aunt, and that Shauna suspected that Team Flare might be up to no good there, too. But as there was no Gym Leader in Dendemille to speak of, Avaline was relieved that Korrina would be coming with her. Shauna had sent her own text complaining bitterly about not being taken seriously by the Rangers, _even after I told them about the Pokeball Factory and showed them all of my charts!_

Avaline could kind of understand why. The Pokeball Factory was a tempting target in its own right, and according to the news, the Flare Grunts that escaped had made off with a huge number of pokeballs. There wasn't anything like that in Dendemille Town, and it didn't have any known relevance to Yveltal either. Considering that Yveltal hadn't been seen for hundreds of years and its location was unknown, and many experts were unsure that it existed _at all,_ it wasn't unreasonable to be more worried about another event like the Power Plant takeover or Pokeball Factory rather than the idea that Team Flare was chasing a legend. Also, as impressive as they were, Shauna's charts were really only circumstantial evidence of Team Flare activity.

Korrina was looking at her expectantly. Avaline had been so lost in thought, she hadn't answered. "Uh, Dendemille Town."

Diantha looked delighted. Korrina pulled a face and simply said, "Dendemille Town is _cold._ "

"It'll be bracing!" Diantha said.

"Bracingly _cold._ I'm going to have to wear my big coat, you know."

"But your big coat is so fluffy! Won't it be nice to wear it again?"

Those two had an odd relationship. But she was glad she and Diantha had finally won this argument.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Current team:  
> Greninja (M) – Senshi  
> Beedrill (F) – Queenie  
> Charizard (M) – Atlas  
> Aromatisse (F) – Brittany  
> Jolteon (M) – Johto  
> Lucario (M) – Ariel
> 
> Diantha:  
> Gardevoir (F) – Pirouet  
> Gourgeist (F) – Nyx  
> Goodra (M) – Knightley  
> Hawlucha (M) – Heelie  
> Tyrantrum (F) – Roxy  
> Aurorus (M) – Nort


	19. Friends Reunited

Korrina was right about one thing, though. Dendemille Town was _freezing._

Still, it was beautiful – Avaline might even go so far as to call it picturesque. It didn't have the same grand old buildings as the rest of Kalos seemed to; the houses were mainly new builds, or the kind of log cabins which Avaline always associated with crackling fires. But like every town in Kalos, it had a Pokemon Centre, and that was where they were due to meet Calem and Shauna.

Avaline had texted them an hour ago to let them know when she and Korrina would be arriving, and had gotten the expected simple acknowledgement from Calem and wildly enthusiastic response from Shauna, but she found herself feeling strangely nervous. It had been about a month now since she had seen her friends last, and she knew it wasn't a completely rational feeling, but a part of her was worried that they would somehow have… moved on without her? That things would be different? It was silly to worry, because Calem and Shauna had been friends for years before they ever met Avaline, and she'd managed to become friends with them without feeling excluded.

Then there was Shauna's aunt, who already knew Calem from him visiting with Shauna, but would be meeting _Avaline_ for the first time. The three of them had left Vaniville Town so suddenly that Avaline had never actually gotten to meet Calem's or Shauna's parents, although she had heard a lot about them in the meantime. Even if Calem and Shauna didn't mind her, what if… Shauna's aunt hated her accent or something? Or, much more reasonably, thought she was a bad influence on Shauna and Calem, who would probably not have gotten into _any_ dangerous confrontations with Team Flare if it hadn't been for Avaline's influence?

If Shauna's aunt was anything like Shauna herself, Avaline probably didn't need to worry so much. But still… it was hard not to.

At least Korrina had promised to talk to Professor Sycamore, so if Avaline's lies of omission had soured his opinion of her at all, she wouldn't have to see his face when he _realised_ it. She hoped he hadn't gotten busy suddenly and sent his assistants instead.

Walking into the Centre, Avaline felt like a bundle of nerves, or maybe like someone had a vice grip on her insides.

She needn't have worried about awkward reunions, though, because as soon as she stepped through the doors, Shauna let out a squeal of joy and literally jumped into Avaline's arms. Avaline would have fallen over if it hadn't been for Korrina's giving her a gentle shove, but she found herself laughing as she hugged Shauna back.

"Ahhh! I missed you so much! Texting just isn't the same, you know?!" Shauna put her feet back on the ground, although she still didn't let go of Avaline. "We have so much to talk about, and Auntie Alice is dying to meet you, and did you have a good journey over, and—"

"Let her breathe, Shauna," Calem said, gently prying her off Avaline. Shauna pouted.

To Avaline's surprise, Calem gave her a hug as well, although it was quite brief compared to Shauna's efforts. "So? I hope everything went well."

"Yup!" Korrina answered on her behalf, bringing a hand down on top of Avaline's head playfully despite Avaline's protests about messing up her hair. "Now she can kick ass with the best of them. At least, she went toe to toe with Diantha pretty convincingly."

"Wow," Shauna breathed.

Even Calem managed a genuine smile. "Congratulations."

Avaline felt herself flushing. "I ended up fainting, so it was really more of a draw."

"My shoes awarded you the win for not vomiting on them." Calem and Shauna shared identical expressions of confusion. "Anyway, I'm sure you kiddos want to catch up, so I'll meet you back here tomorrow... let's say half an hour before we're due to see the Professor."

Shauna tried very hard to get Korrina to agree to come over for dinner at her Aunt's house, which Korrina just as stubbornly refused until even Shauna had to give up and let her say her goodbyes.

"Wouldn't your aunt have been mad at inviting another person to dinner?" Avaline said tentatively, once Korrina had gone. She was pleased that Calem and Shauna weren't acting any less friendly than before, but part of her still felt it was just… weird to see them.

"Pfft, who could possibly complain if I brought the Champion home for dinner?"

"Your aunt?" Calem suggested.

This was not making Avaline feel better about meeting her. "Are you sure it's okay for me to stay? I don't want to be any trouble—"

"No way!" Shauna said, clinging onto Avaline's arm. "You can't go running off right after we just got you back!"

"Alice will complain about you," Calem offered, "but just ignore her. She's the sort of person who likes to complain about everything, but she doesn't really mean it."

"Yeah, you see? So there's nothing to worry about!" Shauna grinned.

That was not quite what Avaline had interpreted from Calem's statement, but she supposed they were trying to make her feel better. Shauna briefly let go of Avaline's arm, for which she was grateful, but then insisted that they hold hands all the way to her aunt's house.

"We have to make sure you don't get lost!" Shauna explained cheerily. Calem just smiled and shook his head.

Auntie Alice turned out to be a tall, dark skinned woman with curly hair scraped into a neat bun. She pursed her lips and regarded Avaline with suspicion. "So. You're the new girl my niece has made friends with."

"Uh… yes?" Avaline said. She resisted the urge to shrink back. _I nearly died like a month ago! Shauna's aunt shouldn't be scary to me!_ "Thank you for letting me stay here."

Shauna was still holding her hand and squeezed it gently. Avaline felt a little better.

"You're welcome," Alice said. "Help set the table for dinner. The plates are in the cupboard over there." Then she turned back to the stove, tasting something that looked stew-like. It was unfamiliar to Avaline but it smelled delicious.

 _I guess she doesn't hate me?_ she thought. A moment later, Shauna whispered in her ear, "I think she likes you!"

But it was kind of loud and carried and Avaline looked over her shoulder to see Alice shaking her head over the food. "Shauna, what have I told you about inside voices?"

"That was totally an inside voice! Everyone inside heard it!"

For a moment, Avaline completely identified with Alice's exasperated expression. "Just… never mind."

Shauna looked at Avaline and winked.

"I guess this explains why most people need a megaphone to match your outside voice," Avaline found herself blurting. Shauna put her hands on her hips and pouted. It was too cute to have much of an effect, but Alice laughed.

Avaline felt herself truly start to relax.

 

 

The next day, Shauna made breakfast, and with the help of Avaline and Calem, managed not to burn anything, even though the eggs turned out slightly overdone.

Alice looked slightly dubious about being brought breakfast in bed. She told them a story over breakfast about how Shauna had once tried to cook a pizza and somehow melted the knobs on the oven, which at least justified her suspicion. "Well, I guess you didn't burn the house down or give me food poisoning, so I'd better kick you out before I push my luck too far."

"Yes, Auntie, it _was_ really nice of us to make you breakfast in bed," Shauna said, in a sarcastic tone of voice that Avaline had never heard her use before. "You're welcome."

"You should thank your friends. I'm sure they're to blame for this not turning into a complete disaster."

" _Auntie!_ "

Alice looked at Avaline and said, in a slightly less dry tone of voice, "Your mother is that rhyhorn racer, isn't she? Why don't you make Shauna and Calem take you out to Mamoswine Road? It's probably a bit different to riding a rhyhorn, but I daresay you'll be better at it than these two. Who knows, you might even lose Shauna in a snow drift."

"I'm going to bring back a snowball _just_ to put down the back of your t-shirt, Auntie."

"Don't worry," Calem whispered – an actual whisper – as they were leaving. "This is just how they show affection for one another."

Avaline nodded. She normally spent half her time when at home telling her mother that she looked like a bin and threatening to burn all her ugly jumpsuits when she wasn't looking, so she supposed she had no room to judge. She had actually tried feeding one to Roran once, but he had just sat on it to keep it safe from Avaline until her mother came home, the traitor.

Before they could venture out to Mamoswine Road, there was the meeting with the Professor. They were still an hour early for meeting Korrina, but it was better than being out in the cold doing nothing. Since Dendemille was such a small town, there wasn't the normal excessive amount of cafes and coffee shops that Avaline had come to expect of Kalos. Luckily the Centre cafeteria remained open all day for hot drinks and freshly made doughnuts. No one was full enough from breakfast to resist.

"They must make a fair amount of money from this despite being so out of the way," Calem mused. The Centre café was at least half full, which was extremely unusual for the mid-morning, and most of the customers didn't look like they were trainers at all – mainly hikers, and one guy covered in paint who kept muttering about 'vistas'. Shauna would look at him concernedly every now and then.

Avaline had been a little worried about being overheard, but because it was more crowded than normal, there wasn't really much risk of that; they used the opportunity to fill each other in on what they had missed. Avaline didn't have very much to add apart from her experiences with mega evolution that she hadn't felt comfortable sending via text and the story about Diantha throwing up on Korrina after first using it in a battle, which Calem and Shauna both laughed at. Then it was her turn to sit and listen, her eyes growing wider and wider as Calem retold the Pokemon Factory story in more detail than she'd heard before.

"...You did really well," Avaline said, afterwards. Would she have gone after Xersic, even now? She didn't know. "How is Rook doing now?"

"He's okay, I think. He had some friendly conversations with Angelika and I was able to introduce him to Shauna without him getting aggressive, even though he didn't say anything to her."

Avaline remembered the details Professor Sycamore had sent in his email. She explained the bits about pokemon's trauma and therapy. "I'll forward it to you," she said.

Calem grimaced. "Thanks. I hadn't even thought to ask Professor Sycamore…"

"Is Korrina _really_ going to tell Professor Sycamore about mega evolution?" Shauna had been biting her lip throughout the conversation.

"Yeah. She's promised Diantha now, so she won't back down."

"That's not what I meant," Shauna said. Her eyes were unfocused, staring into the space just above Avaline's left shoulder. "It's just… it's really strange, you know? Professor Sycamore asked us to look into mega evolution, and it was a fun little diversion, and then it was _real_ and Yveltal and the ultimate weapon and…"

Calem patted her back. "It'll be okay. They might not find either."

"Korrina doesn't think they're looking for the ultimate weapon at all," Avaline offered, even though she didn't believe that herself. "Not that there are many _good_ reasons for wanting to capture a pokemon known as the god of death, but…"

"Yeah…" Shauna blinked some tears out of her eyes and tried to smile. "It's just - it feels wrong, to know so much but not be able to do anything about it. Well, for me, at least; I know you two are plenty strong."

"That's not true," Calem said, before Avaline could. "If you hadn't pulled those charts together about Team Flare's activities, we wouldn't have thought to go straight for the Pokeball Factory and we wouldn't know their plans at all. _And_ you're the reason we knew to come to Dendemille Town."

"I guess," Shauna said, propping her head up on the fists. "Anyway, I'm pretty sure Team Flare _are_ after the ultimate weapon. I need to do more research, but I think they're a doomsday cult."

Avaline was pretty sure Calem's look of astonishment matched hers. "When did you discover this?" he said.

"Last night." Shauna waved her hands dismissively. She pulled a wad of paper half an inch thick out of her bag and started flicking through it. There weren't any charts this time. "I told you, I need to do more research!"

"You're kind of scary sometimes," Avaline told her.

Calem nodded emphatically. "Right?"

Shauna seemed to take this as praise and blushed mightily. "That's right, I'm going to help out too! I'll have this solved by the end of the day!"

"Wait, that's not—" Avaline started to say, but Shauna was already absorbed in her holocaster and not paying attention.

"If you forget to eat, I'll tell Auntie Alice," Calem said.

Shauna got out a pen and started taking notes. "Fine, fine…"

When Korrina arrived twenty minutes later, Shauna had already produced three double sided pages of handwritten notes. Korrina looked at her with some nervousness.

"Shauna thinks Team Flare is a doomsday cult," Calem told her.

"Oh...kay," Korrina said. It was a shame Arnaud wasn't here, Avaline thought. He and Shauna got along well. "Shall we get moving?"

Merely _moving_ was not enough to deter Shauna from her research, although she confined herself to reading increasingly frighteningly-titled articles on the internet. Avaline took hold of her arm to steer her around patches of ice and tried not to wonder why Shauna was looking up the traffic stats of government depopulation conspiracy websites.

Avaline was so distracted by Shauna that she didn't register that Professor Sycamore was right in front of them until he addressed her directly. "How's your hand, Avaline?"

"Uh," she said, momentarily flummoxed. She'd gotten so used to wearing the cast that she didn't really notice it that much anymore. There wasn't really any pain, either. "It's fine? Thank you for asking," she added belatedly.

Korrina shook her head at their awkwardness. Avaline recognised that look; she made the same expression at Diantha's faux pas, and nearly felt offended, but she was mainly just grateful when Korrina interjected to say she was here to talk about Avaline's mega evolution research on her behalf.

Shauna did nothing more than wave briefly in Professor Sycamore's direction – without looking up from her holocaster, so she actually ended up waving at a nearby tree.

"Go on kiddos, you guy go do… something," Korrina said, eyeing Shauna dubiously. "Augustine and I are going to have a talk."

"We are?" Professor Sycamore said. Korrina poked him in the ribs and he nodded. "We are."

"Oh! We can go to Mamoswine Road!" Shauna said. "Then I can sit down and research whilst Avaline and Shauna ride the pokemon."

Ah, for a moment there Avaline thought Shauna had come back to the land of the living. This made _much_ more sense.

"We might as well," Calem offered. "There's not much else to do here."

But when they got to the Mamoswine station, they found that the road was closed.

"Yeah, something's got them spooked," one of the keepers said apologetically. "They just won't budge, and the head of the herd went off up to Frost Cavern looking worried about something; didn't even unsaddle. Michel went after him but…" He shrugged. "I guess there must be trouble up there today."

Avaline and Calem exchanged a grim look.

Shauna put her holocaster away with a sigh. "Well, I hope the Rangers are ready."

 

 

Frost Cavern was, well… _frosty._ And cold. Avaline thought that she'd wrapped up warm for Dendemille Town, but as they got further into the cave, it got colder and colder. Her breath came out in mists as white as the snow piled up in the corners of the cave – ice-type pokemon liked to use it for their nests, Calem said – and she eventually resorted to tucking the fingers of her casted hand under her armpit, which was the only way she was able to retain any feeling in them.

Shauna had gone to find Korrina and Professor Sycamore whilst Calem and Avaline went to see what was going on in Frost Cavern. The missing mamoswine had been pacing outside the cave when they got there, the opening too small for it to fit inside. Something was clearly making it uneasy, though, because it kept trying to force its way in anyway. Neither the Rangers nor the mamoswine keeper Michel had had much luck in calming it down. The Rangers were preoccupied with similar incidents all over the mountain and were happy to accept Avaline and Calem volunteering to investigate the cavern itself.

It hadn't taken them long to find a Team Flare grunt, but the man had just pointed at Calem, shouting "It's you!" before running away. Avaline had given Calem a strange look, but he merely shrugged and said that not all of the grunts involved in the Pokeball Factory heist had been arrested.

They didn't see very many pokemon, even though Avaline had read in the pokedex that the ice-type pokemon in here were normally so lively that the cavern was watched by Rangers the whole year round in case of accidents. Occasionally they would hear an echo of some kind of noise – a shriek, the noise of crystals rattling, a roar. Avaline grit her teeth and tried not to dwell on what Team Flare might be doing to the pokemon here.

"Hopefully most of them got out," Calem said, as though reading her thoughts. "That's probably why the Rangers are busy – all the pokemon are panicking, probably separated from their friends, wondering what's going on."

Just like a human disaster, except that the Rangers were not well equipped to talk to the pokemon about their concerns.

The path was a little confusing and they had to double back on themselves twice, but eventually it opened up into an enormous cavern, where they found a gathering of more than a dozen Team Flare grunts in their orange suits, and an older man who wore the same colours, but in a different style of dress.

"That's Xerosic," Calem whispered. _Ah. The one he fought at the Pokeball Factory._

They hadn't been noticed yet; Team Flare were preoccupied with an abomasnow, which was roaring dramatically and waving its arms about, but it must've been fighting for some time already. Its movements were slow and there were already chunks missing from its bush-like body. Behind it, sheltering in the corner, there was a group of smaller pokemon - three cubchoos, a smoochum, two bergmite, and a cryogonal that was so small Avaline guessed it must be newly hatched.

The roof was open to the heavens; it must have started snowing whilst they were inside the cave. There was a complicated system of pulleys which led down from the rim of the opening to the cavern floor. _That must be how Team Flare got inside without alerting the Rangers._ But for what reason? Even by Team Flare's low standards, terrorising innocent pokemon for fun seemed… well, at least a waste of resources.

"There's a lot of them," Avaline said in an undertone to Calem. "We may have to let everyone out at once."

"Are you okay to use mega evolution?" Calem said. "I know Korrina said not to show it off, but if we can give a display of overwhelming power, we might be able to convince them to just leave. Atlas—"

Avaline shook her head. When mega evolved, Atlas gave off such an incredible amount of heat that even if she banned him from using his fire attacks, he might do serious damage to the cave's infrastructure anyway. "He'd just melt everything. But Queenie…"

They needn't have spent so much time planning. Before Avaline could even finish reaching for Queenie's pokeball, a dishevelled man holding onto the tail of a sigilyph dropped from the hole in the roof, and the entire cavern went entirely, instantly silence.

 _A man._ Avaline had thought he was just an ordinary man, because he'd been stooped over, but then he stood up straight and just seemed to get taller—and taller—she couldn't help but stare. He was taller even than the abomasnow, nearly as tall as two of Avaline stacked atop of one another – he was a _giant._ She'd never seen anybody, any _person_ , who was just so _large._

Avaline was still staring when all hell broke loose – the giant released a torkoal, a pokemon that Avaline had never seen in person before, and didn't even have to say anything before they attacked the Team Flares in the cavern. Most of them were immediately scattered. Avaline was strongly reminded, somehow, of Korrina and Diantha; of the effortless way they commanded their pokemon's strength, even when mega evolved; like it was something they took for granted.

"Ava!" Calem hissed, and she shook herself.

His absol, Angelika, was already out of her pokeball, and Avaline realised this was the best opportunity they had to get the little pokemon to safety. She released Ariel and Johto and, after a moment's thought, Brittany. The recommended action for trainers to take with an injured wild pokemon was to capture it and take it to a Pokemon Centre, before releasing it back into the wild. But she thought the abomasnow must be some kind of self-appointed guardian of the cavern – it didn't seem like it belonged to anyone, being this deep into the cave with no trainer in sight – so it would be unlikely to want to leave the Frost Cavern pokemon alone. Hopefully Brittany's Heal Pulse could help it recover.

Avaline saw something approach them out of the corner of her eye. Queenie's pokeball was in her hand before she even recognised the huge brick of a pokemon as a golurk, and then she realised that it wasn't attacking them at all – in fact, it was facing away from them entirely, forming a very literal wall between them and an attack from one of the Team Flare grunts.

Avaline released Queenie anyway, at the same time as Calem was telling Miso to help the golurk and abomasnow defend the baby pokemon. "Brittany, make sure you make good use of your Heal Pulse, okay? The abomasnow is in really bad shape." That was still a stop gap measure at best. Hopefully when the other pokemon had retreated, it could also be persuaded to leave.

The abomasnow seemed to realise they had come to help, and made a low rumbling noise to urge the little pokemon forward. Johto zoomed around them offering little yips of encouragement, and eventually resorted to pushing one of the slow bergmites across the slippery floor whilst Ariel carried the other.

Queenie butted her head against Avaline and made a low buzzing noise. They were hidden behind the golurk, so Queenie would have a moment of surprise if she mega evolved. But she might not be able to recognise the giant man and his pokemon as allies. And the giant had sent the golurk to defend them… Avaline hesitated.

Before she could decide, the giant man grabbed her arm. He was gentle about it, but Avaline had been so focussed on her key stone and Queenie that she hadn't seen him coming, and his hand was about the size of her entire head; she jumped.

"Save your energy," the giant man said, not unkindly. He let go of Avaline's arm. "Someone stronger is coming. You may yet have to face him."

His accent was strange, different to Calem and Shauna's—different to any accent she had heard in Kalos at all. But then she realised, more importantly, he knew what her bracelet meant. "You know about mega evolution?"

The man smiled, a small, bitter twist of his mouth. "I have used it myself, from time to time."

From time to time. What was _that_ supposed to mean? "Who is coming?" Avaline asked instead.

"I do not know the name. But he is powerful. Their leader, I believe." Avaline opened her mouth to ask another question, but before she could, he looked over her shoulder and then nodded towards the abomasnow, who was still fighting. "Team Flare are interested in _me;_ I'll hold them off whilst you evacuate the pokemon."

"But—wait!" Avaline felt like some important fact was right on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn't quite grasp it. "If someone stronger is coming, we can help you fight!"

The giant man shook his head. "No. These are old sins. They are not for you to carry."

Team Flare were starting to push their defensive line back. Despite Brittany's healing, Miso and the abomasnow were tiring. Only the golurk seemed untouched by Team Flare's attacks, but it couldn't take every hit, and Miso trembled under attacks it bore with barely a shudder. The giant's torkoal and sigilyph were still keeping half of Flare's forces occupied, and they still risked being overwhelmed by the others.

Calem drew her away slightly from the line of fire as the last of the tiny pokemon made it into the tunnel and the abomasnow made to follow them. "Avaline, maybe we should go?"

"You go ahead, Calem," Avaline said, without taking her eyes off the stranger. "Who _are_ you?"

"A relic," the giant man answered, "but I have been called AZ by some."

Avaline really studied him for a moment. His hair was long and greasy and matted; his clothes little more than rags. If not for his absurd height, he would seem like an unremarkable beggar. His eyes, though… here was something about the lines around his eyes. Deep, like little crevices, worn into his face in the same way a river eventually creates a canyon.

He had called himself a relic, talked about mega evolution as though it were an old hobby that one came back to every now and then. _Old sins,_ he said. _His_ old sins.

But surely, it wasn't possible…?

"There is one favour you can do for me." AZ reached under his shirt and then pulled a necklace over his head. It was made of simple twine, grubby and wearing thin in places, but it held a keystone as clear and beautiful as any other. AZ pressed it into Avaline's hands. "Pass it on to someone worthy."

She clasped it tightly. "I will," she whispered.

"Avaline," Calem said urgently. "The abomasnow is heading out too, Angelika is really spooked by something, we _have_ to go—"

 _Know your limits,_ Korrina had told her. _Now that you can use this power, that's more important than ever._

"Alright," Avaline said. Her mouth felt dry. "Yes, let's go."

The giant, AZ, raised one hand in farewell.

 

 

Outside the cavern was nearly complete chaos, not helped by the number of pokemon who swarmed the abomasnow when they finally emerged into the open air; squeaks and grumbling and the sound of cryogonal's crystals gently tinkling together. Even that crowd cleared for the mamoswine, who nuzzled the abomasnow whilst making high pitched squeals of excitement. From a pokemon that large, they were uncomfortably loud. Avaline covered her ears and squinted at the sudden brightness, looking for a familiar face amongst the human figures milling around.

She spotted the lucario well before she would ever have spotted the person. "Korrina! Ferdi! Over here!"

"There you are!" Korrina shouted back. Between her and Ferdi they managed to muscle past the huge crowd of pokemon, even managing to break up the mamoswine and abomasnow's reunion. "Don't be like that," she snapped at the mamoswine, when it tossed its head angrily in her direction. "Your friend needs medical treatment anyway."

The mamoswine backed away, chastised – Ferdi still watched it with suspicion – and the crowd of pokemon finally dispersed.

Korrina gave the two of them a quick look over. "Well, you don't _seem_ like you've broken anything new," she said at last. "I always seem to get to these things too late, don't I?"

Avaline thought suddenly of AZ. _Maybe not this time._ "Korrina, there was a man who came to our rescue in the cave!"

"That's right!" Calem exclaimed. "Korrina, he told us that someone stronger was coming, if you hurry, maybe you'll get there in time to—"

The rest of his sentence was swallowed by a _crack_ as loud as thunder. Korrina went still for one second. Then she grabbed them both and backed away from the cave entrance, yanking them with her.

One of the Rangers seemed to be bellowing something, urging the crowd of pokemon back. Avaline couldn't hear what he was saying over a deep rumbling sound, which seemed to be getting louder, and louder—

"Here!" It was the mamoswine and its rider, Michel. Even standing next to the three of them and shouting, Avaline barely heard him. The mamoswine kept pace with them easily. "Get on—!"

Korrina didn't help Avaline and Calem climb up so much as throw them over the mamoswine's back, and then Ferdi did nearly the same thing to her before Korrina recalled him to his pokeball. Avaline couldn't tell her own heartbeat apart from the rumbling, which seemed to be coming from the very earth itself. Calem looked behind them, and swore loudly, and then—

The whole world was muffled, cold, and white. Avaline tried to take a breath, but found herself choking. _Is this snow?_ It felt like there was an enormous weight pressing down on her body, and she struggled to move her limbs.

Then the mamoswine bucked, and Avaline found she could move her right arm again; a few moments later she was pulled free. She choked and gasped for air.

"It's alright," Michel said. "Don't worry, I've got you."

"Calem!" Avaline said, but then she turned around and there was Korrina, picking him out of the snow.

"Did Team Flare cause an avalanche somehow?" he said, panting.

Avaline looked at him incredulously. " _Priorities,_ Calem, for just _two seconds—"_

"Yes, priorities," Korrina snapped. "If we don't get off the mountain soon we're all going to die of hypothermia, and Diantha will never stop shouting at me."

The mamoswine was already pushing through the snow at a steady pace, despite the fact that the snow drift was nearly up to its eyes. All around them, pokemon kept popping out of the snow. _I suppose they know how to get out of it better than us,_ Avaline thought. There was a line of Rangers urgently digging at the edges of the snow drift, which was a little more ominous.

"I don't know _who_ came to rescue you two," Korrina said grimly. "But if he wasn't caught in this, he's going to be on his own. The Rangers won't let anyone back up the mountain for months now. Not even me."

 

 

Atlas was able to fly Avaline and Calem to the Pokemon Centre. The nurses already been alerted by the Rangers and were preparing to receive a sudden influx of patients. Avaline told Atlas to help the Rangers get everyone down from the mountain safely, and she didn't see him again until the morning, exhausted almost to the point of unconsciousness. Korrina was up and about the next day like nothing had happened, going up to the mountain again to assist the Rangers in searching for more survivors. She was a good Champion, Avaline thought. You could tell by the way that nobody seemed surprised to see her working hard alongside ordinary Rangers. Shauna's aunt Alice, although officially retired, also went up to assist. The entirety of Dendemille Town pitched in with blankets, spare clothing, and warm drinks.

It still wasn't quite enough to save morale when the Rangers and Korrina found only three bodies on the second day, and the Rangers declared that the mountain was still unstable, making it too dangerous for more rescue parties.

"We're trying to get the ice types of Frost Cavern to help us search," Alice told them. Despite working for nearly sixteen hours straight, her hair was still immaculate. Avaline felt a small twinge of jealousy, and nearly laughed at herself. "But there's only so much they can do, and they're wary of going back into the mountain after their home was attacked."

Of course there was media interest, but Korrina put on something resembling an iron mask and wandered around with Ferdi at her shoulder, who stood glaring at everyone Korrina stopped to talk to. The news reporters managed to behave themselves.

Avaline, Shauna and Calem decided to cut their trip short, since they would only get in the way. The problem was, they had no idea what their next move should be. They argued back and forth whilst they finished their packing - the three of them had managed to get a room together during the chaos - but they couldn't work out where Team Flare might strike next.

There was a knock at the door. Avaline sighed. "If it's the nurses, tell them we're leaving anyway—"

"Professor Sycamore!" Shauna exclaimed in surprise.

He explained that with Korrina being called away, she'd only had time to explain about mega evolution, and not how it all related to Team Flare. Together, they rushed through an explanation of the story Avaline had heard in Geosenge Town, the master ball in Pokeball Factory, Shauna's doomsday cult theory, and that they believed Team Flare were after the weapon used to end the Great Civil War 3000 years ago.

Professor Sycamore's eyes grew wider and wider. When they finally finished, he chuckled weakly. "When I asked you to investigate mega evolution, I had no idea you'd get mixed up in something like this."

"Sorry we didn't tell you sooner, Professor," Calem said, "but—"

"You were sworn to secrecy, I know." The professor scratched his chin. "Yveltal and the ultimate weapon… I wonder how Team Flare even plan to find either of those things."

"I think I have an idea," Avaline said, but she hesitated. It seemed so outlandish, but if you believed Victoire's story, it would fit… "I think the man me and Calem met in Frost Cavern, AZ, was the old king who used the weapon."

"What," Shauna said.

Calem blinked at her and opened and closed his mouth a few times. "That… actually makes sense."

Shauna groaned. "Not you too!"

"You didn't see him," Calem insisted. "He was-I've never seen a person like that before. He was taller than the _abomasnow."_

Avaline nodded. "By at least a couple of feet, I'd say."

"If you're right, he'd be about... nine feet tall," Shauna said weakly. "Is that even possible…?"

Sycamore, however, looked thoughtful. "The tallest man who ever lived was nearly nine feet tall-but he had a hormone disorder that caused him to never stop growing, I believe."

Shauna started typing urgently on her holocaster.

"That would make sense, though, if Xerneas really did curse him with eternal life," Avaline said.

"Oh, of course," Calem said. "The body breaks down over time, so the only way AZ could live for so long would be if his body repaired itself, so maybe that also causes a small amount of new growth… if he's been alive for three thousand years, he could certainly get to be nine feet tall."

"There's records of him!" Shauna said suddenly. They all crowded around her tiny screen, even Professor Sycamore. "I thought someone must've noticed before if he's really as tall as you say."

"This one is from sixty years ago, and he looks nearly the same," Calem said. "Just different clothes…"

"This one too," Professor Sycamore said, pointing to a 150 year old photograph that was little more than a silhouette of AZ. "The slope of the shoulders is identical."

"It doesn't prove he's three _thousand_ years old." Shauna bit her lip. "Maybe he's in older-oh, but he wouldn't have been nine feet tall then, would he? Nobody would notice him if he was just six foot or so."

"Either way," Avaline said, before they could get too sidetracked, "I think he would know where the weapon and Yveltal are - and AZ said he'd fought their leader before, so maybe…"

"Maybe Team Flare were looking for him for that reason," Shauna concluded.

Professor Sycamore scratched his cheek. "It's not definitive proof, but given what could happen if they _do_ find Yveltal or the weapon, we'll need to get there first. Come to my lab, and you can help me search." He added, under his breath, "Although I don't know how I'm going to explain this to Dexio and and Sina…"

"Oh, you can just ask them to find Yveltal's location," Shauna said. "Calem overheard that at the Pokeball Factory so you don't have to explain anything about mega evolution."

"Ah, good idea."

"Do you think we _can_ find them before Team Flare?" Calem asked Avaline. "We'll be starting from scratch, and they must've been searching for ages. They may already have found one of them!"

That had occurred to Avaline, too, but she didn't know what else to do. "We have to try."

Whilst they were waiting for the professor to be ready to leave, Avaline managed to get Calem on his round the corner from the Pokemon Centre. It wasn't the most private place - Dendemille Town was busier than usual with reporters and people who'd come to look for loved ones - but it would do. She pulled AZ's necklace from out of her pocket. It was a miracle she hadn't lost it on the mountain.

Calem's eyes widened. "Is that…"

Avaline pressed it into his palm. "AZ asked me to give it to someone worthy."

He stared at it for a few moments, turning it over in his fingers. "Are you sure…"

"Yes," she said, pulling Calem up short. "To handle this amount of power, to have my back in a battle - there's no one I trust more than you."

Calem didn't reply immediately. He reached into his bag and took out the mega stone they'd found back in Glittering Cave. "It's for Angelika," he said, which explained the black and white colours in it. "We'll do you proud."

"I know you will."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Current team:  
> Greninja (M) – Senshi  
> Beedrill (F) – Queenie  
> Charizard (M) – Atlas  
> Aromatisse (F) – Brittany  
> Jolteon (M) – Johto  
> Lucario (M) – Ariel


	20. Knowledge is Power

Trying to find the weapon before Team Flare gave Avaline something to do, and kept her from becoming a nervous wreck, but she very quickly lost any hope of finding the weapon before Team Flare at all. There was just too much to do and not enough time. Team Flare could have _years_ on them, for all they knew.

Shauna latched on to the idea of trying to find who Team Flare's leader was instead. Professor Sycamore was supportive with an air of forced cheerfulness, and he began to spend more time helping them rather than Dexio and Sina. Avaline took this to mean that the search for Yveltal wasn't going well either.

Calem didn't have the research skills of Avaline or Shauna and quickly grew frustrated. When Diantha arrived that evening, he persuaded her to supervise him using mega evolution. If things hadn't been so tense with Team Flare, Avaline didn't think she would've agreed, but after getting over her surprise at the new key stone, she said that the Lost Hotel was normally abandoned and they could start there.

It was a more productive use of his time than running errands for them, and Avaline seriously considered joining him when, after a day's searching, Shauna didn't turn up any leads onto Team Flare's leader, either.

"I don't understand!" Shauna wailed. "There's _nothing!_ "

"Well, whoever the leader is, they'd want to stay hidden," Avaline said. "Maybe they give out orders from a base or something."

"I was still hoping there would be _some_ trace," she said. "Like the orders all originate from the same place or…" She sighed. Avaline felt like this investigation was starting to go beyond their pay grade. "Maybe if I had access to more data—"

Professor Sycamore chose that moment to poke his head round the door. "A problem?"

"Shauna's not had much luck finding the leader of Team Flare," Avaline said, when Shauna just put her head down on the table and made a distressed sound.

"Ah." Sycamore scratched his head. "Have you tried a different approach? Instead of trying to find the leader, try to identify the type of person the leader _has_ to be instead."

Shauna lifted her head off the desk. "Oh! Well, that would narrow down the field a little!"

She picked up a pen and paper, writing "Team Flare Leader Traits" at the top. Soon it was filled with things like:

_Long term planner_

_Access to scientific community_

_Knowledge of mega evolution_

"Couldn't they just have found out about mega evolution the same way we did?" Avaline said. "By accident?"

"It's _possible,_ but unlikely," Shauna answered, still scribbling. " _We_ didn't know what mega stones looked like for certain until we saw that painting in Parfum Palace, which Charles hadn't shown to anyone before. But Team Flare not only knew how to identify mega stones but also had a solid idea where they might find some." She paused for a moment. "Sorry, two ideas; they knew where your key stone was too. We only got that information from Arnaud after we learned mega evolution was real."

"I see what you mean," Sycamore said, making Avaline jump. She'd forgotten he was there. "That would imply a more… _direct_ connection to mega evolution, in the same way it's been handed down to generations of Masters of the Battle Tower. I assume Korrina and her grandfather already ruled out someone related to the Battle Tower?"

Shauna nodded. "As well as they could, I think? Charlotte DuBois's predecessor tried to track down some long-lost relatives when he realised he was the last of his family, but those lines had all died out too."

It must've come up during her talks with Arnaud. Avaline definitely didn't remember anything like that. "There's the royal family," she said instead. "Mega evolution was supposed to be passed down through the line of kings, but then one of them couldn't do it - that's how the Battle Tower got started. That doesn't mean the kings lost all knowledge of it, though."

"Oh, that's right!" Shauna grinned, staring to scribble even faster. "I mean, that still leaves a lot of options. There aren't any more direct descendants but anyone descended from a king's bastard or a nephew or even a trusted servant might…"

Avaline let Shauna's words wash over her. Professor Sycamore was staring at the piece of paper with narrowed eyes, his lips moving almost imperceptibly.

After a few moments of silence from Avaline, Shauna looked up to say something, and noticed too. "Did you have some ideas?"

Professor Sycamore jerked and blinked at them before smiling. "Ah, well… it might be nothing. I'm just going to look something up…"

He retreated hastily. It was hard _not_ to think of it as a retreat. "He knows this is urgent, right?" Avaline said, folding her arms across her chest.

"I'm sure he'll be back soon," Shauna said. "Let's see if we can think of some other stuff!"

But Professor Sycamore didn't come back for two hours. Avaline's frayed nerves finally snapped, and she stomped over to his private office intending to give him a piece of her mind. They might be children, but _he_ was the one who had involved them in the research idea in the first place; it wasn't right for him to suddenly close them out.

Shauna was more worried about offending the professor. She struggled to keep pace with Avaline. "Maybe it's just some private data that he's not allowed to show us!"

The door to Professor Sycamore's office was unlocked. Avaline turned the handle and shoved the door open—

Professor Sycamore wasn't there.

"It looks like he left us a note?" Shauna said.

There _was_ a piece of paper on the desk with their names on, but of all the times…

Avaline unfolded it to read and it was like the ground suddenly dropped out from under her.

_Lysandre._

She couldn't focus on the other words. It made too much sense.

Shauna gently pulled the note out Avaline's hands. "He… he does fit all the criteria—and the professor says he told him about the project with the Pokeball Factory—" Her eyes widened suddenly. "He went to _talk_ to him."

Avaline grabbed the note back and skipped to the last few lines. _I can't believe this could be true, but he has been acting strangely recently… I've asked him to meet me at Cafe Rouge._

She closed her eyes for a moment and fought back the urge to scream. It was understandable in a way; it would be like if she found out Shauna or Calem were secretly evil. She'd probably do something stupid, too.

"I'll go get him," she said, but as she did, her holocaster flared to life and began to play a message.

It was Lysandre. Avaline's heart sank.

" _People of Kalos, the world is in a terrible state. Wars and conflict are ceaseless, and despite advances in technology, resources are still concentrated in the hands of the few. Even my tireless efforts, and those of other unselfish people, have done little to upset this status quo._

" _With the world in this state, it can never be mended. Therefore, with the ultimate weapon used three thousand years ago, Team Flare will wipe the slate clean and begin a new, equal society, where everyone can flourish, and the world will be beautiful once again._

" _It is with regret that I resort to this extreme measure, but I cannot abide this selfishness any longer. Goodbye."_

Lysandre's image disappeared. Avaline couldn't speak.

"Is he… he's really…" Shauna took out her own holocaster but her hands were shaking so badly that she dropped it. She just stared at it. "Can he really do that? Kill everyone in the _world?_ "

"I… don't know," Avaline said. She blinked at her own holocaster without being fully aware of it. _Come on. Move! You have to look for Professor Sycamore, at least!_

Shit, Professor Sycamore might be dead.

 _Calem. He's with Diantha, I have to talk_ —

That was when she noticed all the holocaster's network features were down. Not only could she not make calls or send texts, she couldn't even get on the internet to find out where Cafe Rouge was.

Holocaster technology, Shauna had proudly told Avaline once, was used by nearly everyone in Kalos. Since Lysandre had invented it much of the core technology, it must've been beyond easy for him to find a way to shut them all down. Emergency services would have backup methods of communicating, of course, but if most ordinary people didn't have any way to contact _them,_ it would be difficult for them to work out where to go.

Maybe Professor Sycamore, if he was still alive, would know how to fix it? If he'd shared his projects with Lysandre, maybe Lysandre had shared things with Sycamore, too. It was a long shot, but either way, Avaline couldn't just stand here.

She squeezed Shauna's hand and started to move.

It took Avaline three minutes to find an old fashioned A to Z map of Lumiose City, and she felt every second of it like there was someone squeezing her entire body. Her throat felt tight and painful and she had to remind herself to breathe as she frantically scanned the index, searching for the street the café was located on.

Professor Sycamore might have invited Avaline to help Calem and Shauna on basically a whim, but without him, she never would've started this journey. She never would have made such good friends in Shauna and Calem. She never would have fully realised what she was capable of. _I have to save him. He has to be okay._

Shauna was looking at her with an anxious expression. _Calm,_ Avaline reminded herself. Panicking wasn't going to help anybody. She tried to give Shauna a reassuring smile. It felt a little strained, even to Avaline, but Shauna returned it with one of her own.

Avaline finally found the right street and flipped to the correct page. _Café Rouge_ wasn't too far, tucked away in a little alley a few blocks from the lab. She showed the map to Shauna, who studied it for a moment and then nodded.

She rubbed her watery eyes fiercely. "I'll-I'll go find Calem," she said. "He can't have gone far up the route. And Diantha too!"

"Right," Avaline said. "Come find me at Cafe Rouge. I might need backup."

Shauna nodded. "Of course. Just…" She trailed off suddenly, biting her lip. Avaline tried to think of something reassuring to say, but no words would come out. Shauna pulled her into a tight hug. "Just be safe, okay?"

"I'll do my best," Avaline replied. On impulse, she kissed the top of Shauna's head.

Shauna laughed for some reason and they parted. Avaline's eyes were at risk of becoming blurred with tears and Shauna seemed to be on the verge of crying, too. "We'll come join you soon, okay?" she said. "So… go get 'em, Ava!"

The journey to the cafe was short and easy. The streets were nearly deserted – Avaline passed crowds of people huddled in cafes and restaurants, glued to the news, but nearly no one on the streets, unless they were hurrying to get somewhere. She looked in the window of one place where the TV was clearly visible from the street, but they just seemed to be talking about the holocaster message. She quickly ran on, although the sound of her own echoing footsteps sent shivers up her spine. It was creepy to see Lumiose City so… lifeless. But at least there wasn't a panic yet.

 _Café Rouge_ was as red as its name. There was still a menu board proper up outside, listing their selection of cakes, all based around red foodstuffs. The door was wide open but no noise came from inside. Avaline felt as though she was going to throw up. _Professor Sycamore is fine. He must be._

She released Ariel from his pokeball, bringing a finger to her lips, and motioning for him to follow her inside.

The café itself was deserted. It looked like people might have left in a hurry – some of the chairs were overturned. Behind the counter, there was another door wide open. Through it, Avaline could see steps leading downward. A lot of old buildings in Kalos did have basements. She hoped that Professor Sycamore was down there—

It was best not to let herself have time to think about what _could've_ happened. Avaline took a deep breath and forced herself to go. She tried to step as quietly as she could, not wanting to blatantly announce herself, and Ariel's footsteps made no noise at all. Before she'd reached the bottom of the stairs, she recognised Professor Sycamore's voice. The words were indistinct, and there was an undercurrent of panic in his tone, words spilling out at twice their usual rate. _But he was alive._

The feeling of relief gave her space to breath, and she made sure to do a quick sweep of the room before she revealed herself.

The basement room was larger than she had expected, and richly decorated, with slick tiled flooring and wood panelled walls. There was another set of stairs which disappeared into darkness. Could the basement have a second level? Lumiose City was really old, so it was possible this building has been built on top of an older building. There was little actual furnishing in the room, some beds, one set of shelves piled with books and papers, another with enormous jars of coffee beans and sugar for the café upstairs, and—

_Is that a teleport pad?!_

Avaline had never seen one in real life. The technology was still extraordinarily expensive. It was hoped that one day it would be a cheap and painless way to make cross-regional journeys, but for now they wouldn't get you further than two days worth of travel on foot.

But Lysandre Roi was exactly the sort of man who would invest in such technology. He had the cash, he had technical expertise, and… a need to get to places without being seen. Avaline remembered how Shauna had been frustrated at trying to work out who the leader of Team Flare might be. So the teleport pad probably went to whatever place Team Flare was using as headquarters? The café was just a cover. With the beds, maybe it was even used as a kind of safe house for Team Flare, or a way for members to disappear quickly.

The more Avaline thought about it, the more disturbing the amount of _planning_ that had gone into all this became.

She'd been trying not to listen to Professor Sycamore try to plead sense with his friend. It broke her heart a little. He and Mr. Roi had been friends for a long time. It must be hard to grasp that a person you thought you knew well wouldn't just snap out of it, but Avaline had seen and heard enough.

When she stepped out into the open, Lysandre didn't seem surprised to see her. In fact, he smiled. It even seemed genuine. Avaline found that more disturbing somehow. There was a pokemon standing at Lysandre's shoulder, a mienshiao. Fast, Avaline remembered. She probably couldn't just grab Professor Sycamore and run, then.

"I thought it would be you who came." Lysandre nodded to himself, as though he'd had something confirmed for him. "Your progress has been quite remarkable."

Professor Sycamore was looking at Lysandre like he'd just stabbed him. Had Lysandre been stalking her or something? He couldn't get any creepier if he tried. Avaline _really_ didn't want to encourage that discussion. "You have no idea," she said flippantly.

Lysandre sighed as though disappointed with her. _He_ was disappointed. Avaline wanted to laugh at him, but she was also wary of the mienshiao standing at his shoulder, watching her carefully. It was still too close to Professor Sycamore for her liking, and he seemed frozen. She couldn't think of a way to urge him to move than wouldn't potentially draw hostile intention towards him.

"You're still young," Lysandre said. He had the air of someone important dispensing wisdom. Avaline gritted her teeth, and with her hand behind her back, motioned Ariel towards the Professor. She hoped he'd understand the need for subtlety. "Of course, you're full of optimism. I was the same at your age. Talented people like ourselves always underestimate the skills of others."

"Lysandre," Professor Sycamore broke in. "Lysandre—this is madness—"

Lysandre frowned for a moment, closed his eyes and let out a soft breath. Avaline felt like she knew that expression; deliberately pushing doubts away. "Augustine, I am really sorry that you can't understand what I'm saying. I truly am."

 _He seems perfectly sane to me,_ Avaline thought savagely. _Just a shit human being._

"Ah, of course," she said sarcastically. "Because if _you_ can't fix the world, then it must be beyond saving."

Lysandre looked genuinely angry for a second, and Avaline thought she'd made a terrible mistake. _Of all the stupid—_

She put a hand on Senshi's pokeball, ready to fight, but the moment passed and Lysandre simply sighed again, like he was the particularly passive aggressive parent of a problem child.

"Well, if you think you can stop me," he said. "You're welcome to try."

He was so unbearably arrogant. Thinking he knew everything, could _do_ everything. Because he can't fix it, it must be broken beyond repair. ' _Wipe the slate clean.'_ Avaline wanted to tell Ariel to punch his smug face in. But Ariel was carefully edging in front of Professor Sycamore, and Lysandre seemed to either not to notice or not care. It was more important to make sure the professor was safe.

Suddenly, Avaline heard footsteps.

Not from behind her - she saw a light coming up from the second basement level. After a few moments a tall woman appeared. She lacked the Flare-orange hair and suit; instead, she was dressed in red trousers and a black top, and her hair was pink and done up in an elaborate style.

She looked taken aback to see Avaline at first, but then her expression turned into a confident smirk. Something nagged at the back of Avaline's head. She seemed familiar. After a moment, she remembered the Battle Chateau listings – the woman was one of the higher ranked members, a Duchess.

Avaline couldn't remember her name, but then Lysandre said, "Malva," with just a slight edge of annoyance.

Malva didn't even blink at him. "Why don't you go on ahead, Boss?" she said. The smirk widened into a true smile. "I'll take care of the trash."

"Leave Augustine out of this," Lysandre said sharply.

"If you insist." Malva shrugged and met Avaline's eyes. "After all, it's you and I who have unfinished business – isn't it, Blondie?"

He turned to leave, heading for the teleport pad.

Ariel growled. _The Badlands… it was_ _ **her?**_

Lysandre was getting away. He was getting _away_ , but Avaline felt like her feet were stuck to the floor—protecting the professor, trying to breathe and ignore her heart pounding like a drum in her ears.

Lysandre looked over his shoulder at them. His eyes rested on Professor Sycamore for a moment, and Avaline thought she saw true regret in them. It just pissed her off more. He nodded to Avaline, like she was his fucking _equal,_ like she had anything in common with that bastard—

Then he was gone.

Malva drew out a pokeball. A pyroar appeared and Malva didn't have to do more than gesture before the teleport pad went up in flames and exploded, letting off sparks.

Professor Sycamore made a wounded noise from behind her.

"Professor, you should go," she said. It sounded dismissive, even to her own ears. She added, "The emergency services will need help coordinating as communications are down—maybe there's something you can do—"

"Ah, right," Sycamore said, in a small voice.

She was relieved to see him leave. At least she didn't have to worry about him getting caught in the crossfire now.

"Lysandre is so hard to work for sometimes," Malva said. She was very casual about it, despite the gleam in her eye. "Did you see that? The way he just assumed that you would beat me? Honestly, and he complains about morale."

Avaline wanted to say that she was stronger than last time. She didn't, because that was a terrible thing to just _tell_ an opponent, and because in that moment she didn't really believe it was true.

"You're really annoying, you know?" Malva continued, in the same conversational tone. "I can't believe you got away from me in the Badlands. And after the boss tagged me specifically for the job! You made me look so bad, even though you would have been toast if Diantha hadn't shown up to save you." Her lip curled. "And he thinks there's something special about you! _Please._ "

 _Do you have a crush on him?_ Avaline thought wildly, and genuinely considered saying out loud, even though that was at least _as_ terrible an idea as telling Malva how much stronger she'd gotten.

"As though _he_ has room to talk; all he did was corner that giant downstairs." Malva was saying. _So AZ is here? He's okay!_ "Anyway, that's why I can't just let you have an easy ride, you know? Despite how annoying you are, it's not actually that personal. Your pokemon were kind of impressive, to be honest. Hey, if things had been different, we'd be having this battle at the Pokemon League, right?"

Avaline was caught off guard enough to actually respond. "What?"

Malva stared at her in surprise for a moment, and then laughed. "Oh – oh, sweetie. I'm one of Korrina's Elite Four, didn't you know?"

"What," Avaline said weakly.

"Yep!" Malva sounded so proud of herself. "I've been under her nose this entire time."

Avaline had always associated the Elite Four with righteousness and justice. She'd just sort of assumed it would be the same in Kalos, that they would be Korrina's right hand. But Lysandre. Lysandre wanted to kill _everyone._ "But why would you…"

Malva examined her nails pointedly, now bored and disinterested. "That's none of your business," she said, and then: "Leoni, fire fang."

Ariel sprung to intercept the pyroar, which had jumped for Avaline. She stepped away, cursing her own idiocy. _Of course she isn't going to fight fair. She knows taking me down is the fastest way to end this._

She threw out Senshi's pokeball before recalling Ariel. Senshi didn't ask what was going on, he simply fired off some water shuriken at the pyroar, forcing it back against the wall. Avaline moved into the staircase; the space was small and cramped with only two pokemon in it - she might finish the fight faster if she could release more of her pokemon but they might also bring the ceiling down on their heads.

She just had to hit Malva's pokemon as fast and as hard as possible. "Senshi, waterfall while its down!"

"Hyper voice!"

The pyroar yowled and the sound echoed madly, ringing in Avaline's ears. She staggered and fell as Senshi crashed into the wall. There were cracks in the plaster but he seemed okay, picking himself up and shaking his head.

But the pyroar now had a clear line of sight to Avaline. It opened its mouth and she could see the fire in the back of its throat. She tried to scramble away—

Senshi's water shuriken caught it in the mouth, making it choke and splutter before Senshi leapt on it with a powerful waterfall attack that sent it crashing into the wall. It didn't get up again.

Malva snarled and hurled another pokeball. This time, a chandelure appeared. The room seemed to chill a little, and Avaline winced.

Senshi sent water shurikens at the flames at the end of its long, black arms. The lit again with a hiss and the chandelure shrieked with outrage, bringing its arms together to shoot a burst of flame at Senshi. He barrelled straight into the blast, but it bounced off him like a puddle, splashing the walls and ceiling and coming dangerously close to hitting Avaline.

 _Flame burst!_ "Are you mad?!" she demanded. "You're going to burn the whole place down!"

"I'm confident _you'd_ get out," Malva snorted. "There's just the old guy in the basement, but who cares about him."

They were holding AZ? He was still alive? Avaline glared at Malva, but then Senshi crashed into her from the side. Avaline jarred her arm painfully as they were both spent sprawling and a ball of shadowy energy went right through where Avaline had been standing a moment ago.

Of course Malva was just trying to distract her.

"Thanks, Senshi."

He gave her a small nod.

The chandelure was preparing another attack until Senshi nailed it with water shuriken. It gave him time to get to his feet. Avaline stood too, moving towards the stairs and promising that she wouldn't let herself be caught off-guard like that again.

Senshi was firing off water shuriken non-stop. The chandelure could dodge some of them, but not all of them, letting out a high pitched scream every time Senshi struck true. Avaline winced with each cry. It wasn't really the chandelure's fault, just for being Malva's pokemon, but they couldn't afford to show mercy in this situation.

Malva stretched out a hand towards the chandelure, then pulled it back. She wasn't joking or smiling now, her fists clenched tight despite a pretense of the same, casual stance. "Try… try flash!"

Avaline covered her eyes as the chandelure started to glow. There was a flash of light that left her blinking and Senshi dazed.

The chandelure came for Avaline.

"Senshi, above!"

Blindly, Senshi fired his water shuriken upwards, catchin the chandelure off guard and sending it spiralling off course. It dropped to the floor and struggled to get up again. Malva visibly hesitated, glancing over to them, before recalling it to its pokeball.

Part of Avaline felt proud of the hard set to Malva's jaw, the way she could tell that Malva was gritting her teeth together and probably thinking something like, ' _And now what?'_

Avaline didn't know how many pokemon Malva had but she knew that the talonflame, at least, would be too big to fit in the room, so she wouldn't be facing a full team. There was a kind of anxious itch at the back of her head as she calculated the odds, weighed pros and cons. Lysandre was powerful enough to worry even _AZ,_ who had taken on a dozen members of Team Flare. If she used mega evolution, she might exhaust herself, making her useless to everyone. But if she took too long to defeat Malva here, she might be too late.

Malva let out a harsh breath through her nose. Her hand found another pokeball, and—

There were shouts from the café above them and the sound of multiple pairs of feet on the stairs. Avaline felt dread settle in the pit of her stomach. Not _more_ Team Flare. But the feeling didn't have time to really sink in before Shauna, Calem and Diantha burst into the room.

"Oh, _great,_ " Malva said dryly.

Diantha stopped short to stare at her, but Shauna kept going and ran right up to Avaline, hugging her. "Ava! You're okay!"

"I'm fine," Avaline said, patting Shauna's shoulder. "But Lysandre got away. Where—"

"He's in Geosenge Town," Calem said, before she could even ask the question. That made sense, she guessed, that the place where the ultimate weapon was located would be the place that had the most accurate stories circulating about it. But the thought of Victoire weighed heavily on her mind at Calem's downcast expression. "It's bad," he said. He didn't elaborate but Shauna squeezed Avaline even tighter.

"Well! There's no way I can fight all of you," Malva announced, managing to pull off an air of exasperation despite being on the receiving end of Diantha's furious glare. "I surrender, I guess. Arrest me or whatever."

Diantha looked like she was about to slap her.

"I think AZ's downstairs," Avaline said. She exchanged a look with Calem. "Do you think he could tell us how much time we have?"

"It's worth asking," Calem said. "We might not want to know, but…"

Shauna had already started pulling Avaline towards the stairs. "Come on, come on, we have to hurry to Geosenge Town!"

The three of them piled down the stairs to the sound of someone being slapped. Avaline had no idea what Diantha and Malva were arguing about but Malva may have deserved it.

Compared to the high end fittings of the upper basement, the second level was like stepping into another world. Shauna pulled out her holocaster to use as a torch (at least it was still good for that). The room was small, with low ceilings and the heavy scent of damp in the air. All there was was a kind of makeshift cell in which AZ was bundled up uncomfortably.

"Oh, it's you," he said, not sounding very surprised. "I thought I heard noises."

"Lysandre has found the weapon," Calem said, without preamble. "Geosenge Town has been destroyed – what do we do? How much time do we have?"

"He always knew where the weapon was," AZ corrected. "He just didn't have the key. Yveltal."

In the dim light, Avaline noticed for the first time the dark shadows on his faces weren't cast by the harsh light of Shauna's holocaster, but were bruises. Had AZ been the only barrier to Lysandre's plan all along? The thought that even this chance to stop him had only come about because AZ had evaded Team Flare for so long—the thought made her feel sick.

"So it's open," AZ said, seemingly mostly to himself.

Shauna physically shook herself and let go of Avaline's hand, giving the torch off to Calem. Her braixen, Felix, came out of his pokeball. "Let us get you out of this cell. Keep talking."

"It's still a few hundred years until Yveltal is due to wake," AZ mused. He watched Shauna coach Felix through melting the lock on the cell door with interest. "So… it will take time to gather the requisite energy. At least four hours."

Even in the poor light, Avaline saw Calem's face turn ashen as she felt _her_ face do the same. "Four _hours?_ " Calem whispered. "Can we even _get to_ Geosenge Town in four hours?"

"Yes," Diantha's voice said. Avaline turned and saw her silhouette framed in the doorway, blocking most of the light. "Avaline, you have to go on ahead. The rest of us will catch up with you as best we can."

"What?" Avaline said, slightly taken aback. She felt a little rising note of panic. She'd always assumed that Diantha or Korrina would be leading the way. _I don't have to do this on my own, do I?_

"You're the only one with a flying type," Diantha said. "If he's mega evolved, I think your Atlas can get there in half an hour; we'll have to rig some kind of harness which will take some time, but… as the murkrow flies, it's not that far to Geosenge Town at all. Our problem is that the overland route is so difficult—"

 _But I don't want to go by myself!_ Avaline thought, and then felt ashamed. This wasn't about her. She'd still agreed to be the successor to mega evolution, even after seeing that painting of the king in Parfum Palace. She remembered how the painter had captured his expression, the fear in his eyes and the determined lines of his mouth. This was… a duty, almost. And even if it wasn't – how could she possibly _not_ go?

Avaline started as someone grabbed her hand. It was Shauna. Avaline couldn't see her expression very well in the gloom, but she noticed the way that Shauna wouldn't meet her eyes. She didn't say anything, though, just squeezed her hand once, very tightly, and then let go to help AZ out of the cell.

Calem nudged Avaline's shoulder in a friendly way. "Don't worry," he said, although his smile seemed a little uncertain. "If anyone can do it, it'll be you."

 _If I'm the only one who can,_ Avaline thought grimly, _then it doesn't matter if I can do it. I just_ _ **have**_ _to do it._

"If you're going after him… be careful," AZ said. Avaline whirled around to see him stumbling towards the staircase, leaning heavily against the wall. Shauna hovered nearby, but there was no way she could support someone so much taller than herself. "Mega gyarados is even more destructive than normal."

"So you're the one who sent in that photo," Calem said.

Avaline had forgotten about it after everything else that had happened. "You knew it was Lysandre all along?"

"I didn't know his name," AZ said, "nor what he was planning. I thought the photo would be enough, and I could manage the rest alone." He sighed. "Another mistake for which others will pay."

She wanted to shout at him, but it didn't seem like the time. And she wasn't even _really_ angry at AZ; she didn't know if anyone would've believed him, even if he had said more.

"Good luck."

 _Good luck._ Luck would have to be enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Current team:  
> Greninja (M) – Senshi  
> Beedrill (F) – Queenie  
> Charizard (M) – Atlas  
> Aromatisse (F) – Brittany  
> Jolteon (M) – Johto  
> Lucario (M) – Ariel


	21. Desperate Times

Flying on Atlas in his mega evolved state was uncomfortably warm. Avaline had worried that she would be freezing, flying so high for so long a time, but instead she felt sweaty and gross and and the makeshift harness seemed to be cutting off the circulation in her thighs and she did _not_ feel in any condition to make an attempt at saving anyone.

"Can you see anything yet?!" she shouted to Atlas, mainly for the pleasure of hearing something other than the wind blowing through her ears and the flapping of his wings, since there was no easy way for him to reply in the air.

At least, Avaline hadn't expected him to respond, but Atlas did a sharp turn and angled himself downward. Her stomach did a flip at the sudden change; she hadn't flown on Atlas _at all_ before and had spent the first ten minutes of the journey in hysterics, expecting to drop to her death at any moment. Then her stomach seemed to drop out of her completely as she saw Geosenge Town laid out below them.

Or rather, what she _assumed_ was Geosenge Town, because most of it was simply _gone._

It looked like a bomb had hit it. There was rubble where houses had stood; where there had once been cafes, there was now just twisted scraps of metal. Even the Pokemon Centre had lost half of its roof, although Avaline saw people scurrying around it, so at least there were survivors.

 _Survivors._ The boring day Avaline had spent trailing around after tour guides, trying to find something useful, seemed to have happened in another lifetime.

Most prominently of all was the _thing_ that must be the weapon Lysandre had been so obsessed with. AZ had said 'so it's open' and she could see why. It was like an enormous, crystal flower that had bloomed over the town square. Avaline thought she had even stood in front of the stone circle that had been there, watching tourists take pictures of each other. Had the weapon really been here all this time, under their noses?

"Atlas, take us down somewhere near the Centre!" Avaline called.

She had no idea what the people would make of a charizard when it was mega evolved – he was still recognisable, the same orange, pebble-like skin, but his wings were now enormous and the horns on his head were more prominent; he looked distinctly more dragon-like than a normal charizard. Avaline couldn't afford to worry about things like that, though, when she had to find Team Flare's headquarters and had no idea where to even _start._ Hopefully someone in town would have seen something.

Atlas landed awkwardly, jolting the straps holding Avaline onto his back. People came rushing out of the Centre, looking first grimly resolved and then confused.

"Is that a charizard? But it looks so…"

"She doesn't look like she's a member of Team Flare…"

"Hey, wasn't she with the Champion in Dendemille Town?!"

This last comment was louder than the others and got a buzz of excitement. Avaline vaguely remembered that she'd stood with Korrina for an impromptu interview. It seemed a good point to break in.

Avaline took a deep breath, determined to sound more confident than she felt. "Everyone, don't worry, I'm here to help! Can anyone tell me where Team Flare is?"

"I've seen them heading northwest of here!" someone shouted.

Somebody else added, "The edge of the woods."

Before Avaline could that them, there was an explosion of noise.

"Who else is coming?!"

"Where are the Rangers?"

"We can't get any signal out with the holocaster and there are people trapped in the rubble!"

"What about Korrina?"

They were all looking at her like she was supposed to know what to do. _I've barely even lived here!_ Avaline wanted to say. _I don't know how to deal with this!_

Her throat felt closed up and painful. Wasn't she already doing enough, charging into Team Flare's base without any backup? "It's… It's difficult, no one can communicate… Professor Sycamore in Lumiose City is doing his best and—"

"Oh, he's doing his _best,_ " another person said sarcastically. "Listen, there are people here who need help right now!"

Avaline lost the last of her patience. " _So help them!_ " she yelled. Silence ensued and she ploughed on. "You can't just sit around and wait for someone else to come. You have to take action! You have pokemon, don't you? Well, some of them can help look for survivors; some of them can move the rubble; the Centre is still standing! There are lives at stake. So put your own fears aside and do _whatever you can._ "

The small crowd exchanged anxious glances, many of them red-faced.

"What are you going to do?" This time, it was a teenager. He looked about her age. Avaline felt a tiny, tiny flash of jealousy. But she, too, had to do whatever she could.

"I'm going to stop Lysandre," she said. "Atlas, let's go."

 

 

The entrance to Team Flare's headquarters wasn't too hard to find with directions, but every minute that passed brought Avaline an inch closer to hysterics, and she had to bury her holocaster at the bottom of her bag so she wouldn't be tempted to keep watching the time. An hour had passed already.

The entrance was smooth and polished. Avaline saw a door disguised to look like rock, but it had been left open. She supposed Team Flare didn't see the need to hide anymore. Or maybe Lysandre had left it open, as part of his demented invitation to stop him.

"Atlas," she said, "do you think you could hold mega evolution whilst inside your pokeball?"

She knew it was possible from Korrina and Diantha, but her own pokemon had never had reason to try it before. He considered it, bringing his eye right alongside the pokeball and studying it. After a moment, he gave a nod.

"Good." Avaline breathed a sigh of relief, and then… how much did her pokemon understand about what was going on? She had been in too much of a rush to get everyone out to explain, and had barely told Atlas more than 'we need to stop Team Flare' before taking off. "Atlas, you… you understand that we can't worry about finding you worthy opponents here, right? We don't have that luxury today."

He let out a snort.

"I know, I know, it's beneath you and cowardly and et cetera. But—Team Flare could kill hundreds of thousands of people today… I just need you to promise me that you'll do as I say, even if you think it's wrong or..."

She couldn't think of the word she wanted and just trailed off.

Atlas seemed to understand, though, because he nudged her gently with his snout, and then tapped his pokeball. _Alright,_ she imagined him saying to her, _but just this once._

Avaline smiled. "I knew I could count on you."

Atlas raised his head, and then disappeared back into his pokeball.

The idea of walking into Team Flare's headquarters _without_ Atlas by her side was terrifying, but they were running out of time. Avaline knew that if she hesitated for too long, it would only get harder. She forced herself to take one step forward, and then another, and another—

She was in a tunnel which gently sloped downwards for a while. The lighting was dim, but brightened as the path suddenly became very steep, turning into a set of stairs carved out of rock. Avaline touched the wall; it was rock as well. There must have been some kind of naturally existing cave system, maybe even one that AZ himself had altered for his needs, that Lysandre had moved into. At least that explained why nobody had noticed him building some kind of underground lab or something.

Avaline gritted her teeth and pressed on as quick as she dared; there was no handrail, and if she fell down these stairs, she would surely break her neck. The stairs went on for some time, but then Avaline saw gleaming white tiles ahead of her and breathed a sigh of relief. After a pause for thought, she took out Johto's pokeball; she didn't release him yet, but she held on tight. Team Flare would have noticed her coming. She didn't know how many grunts would be lying in wait and needed to balance conserving her strength with pressing ahead quickly. Johto was fast and good at evasion, so even if she needed to call out more pokemon to deal with Team Flare, he would be okay for a minute.

She released Johto just as she stepped out from the stairwell, which was lucky, because the room she stepped into was cavernous and had blindingly bright fluorescent lighting. Avaline had to shield her eyes and blink, and it was only Johto's quick thinking which took down a Team Flare's liepard before it could leap at her.

There were at least eight other Flare grunts in the room when she did a quick sweep; she thought most of them would probably have only one pokemon. Probably. Either way, eight was too many. She had to call out Atlas.

It was kind of gratifying to see the way their faces paled, in unison, when Atlas came out of his pokeball and let out a jet of flame that melted one of the unmanned workstations, but the feeling soured when she imagined a clock, _tick-tock_ , counting down.

 

 

She left Atlas out of his pokeball in case they came across any more large groups, and had Johto running ahead as a scout. The hallways became large enough for Atlas to proceed unhindered, stalactites hanging high above them; the facility was enormous, and they ran into a few dead ends. There were even more tunnels that they didn't look into, following the path of the white tiles. She just had to hope it was the right way.

…Then something sent Johto flying back just as she was about to turn a corner. Avaline pulled him back into his pokeball before he could hit the wall and suffer more damage. If it was defended, that meant she was on the right track. A fight would slow her down, but some of the tension inside her eased.

Avaline gestured for Atlas go ahead of her, and saw him be hit by psychic energy. He didn't budge an inch, and even to Avaline, it felt nearly laughably weak after merely being in the same _room_ as Diantha's mega evolved gardevoir.

She stepped around the corner carefully, ready to duck behind it again if it looked like she was about to be attacked… ah, it was Xerosic. Avaline hadn't seen him do very much at Frost Cavern, but Calem had told her about their confrontation at the Pokeball Factory. It was that same malamar that Xerosic had out now. Despite Atlas's intimidating presence, he didn't look concerned. _Tricky,_ Calem had said.

"Hm." Xerosic stroked his beard thoughtfully. "Well, no wonder you've simply blown through the ranks."

And he'd taken it upon himself to slow her down.

When Avaline didn't say anything, he seemed to sigh. And then, without warning, stalactites broke off from the rocky ceiling and flew at Atlas. _He's using the malamar's psychic powers to simulate rock-type attacks?_

"Atlas, blast them!"

The a burst of fire blew away all the rocks at once, and the malamar was forced to erect a hasty barrier around itself and Xerosic to prevent them both from getting burned.

There was a cracking sound. Avaline took a step back, confused. There was a roar and there was a rush of heat and wind as Atlas flew over her, crashing into the wall. Rock shards flew everywhere.

Avaline finally looked _up_ to see a chunk of the ceiling above her head had been broken away. It would have crushed her if not for Atlas's quick thinking.

"We have to take out this malamar," she told Atlas.

He was already angry and didn't need telling twice. There were dozens of little gashes across his body, but he ignored them and took to the air again.

—And then a rock crashed into him.

Atlas bellowed and Avaline cursed, looking around the corner again. Xerosic's malamar was calling down more rocks and Atlas was still getting back to his feet. She had to get rid of the malamar; none of her pokemon were really suited, but if there was any time to take risks…

"Queenie, be careful! The malamar!"

Shaking herself, Queenie didn't need telling twice. She waited a beat and then raced forward at her top speed.

Avaline glanced at Atlas. It was against his nature to let someone "help" him in a fight, but he seemed to have remembered her words at the entrance, because he didn't object. "Watch out for Queenie and take out whatever rocks you can."

He grumbled in acknowledgement and took flight, using his tail to bat away a rock that was heading for Queenie.

The malamar changed tactics and the rocks started to drop, cracking the white tiles. The rocks piled on top of one another, smashing into pieces, until the hallway was scattered with rubble. The malamar directed a wave of psychic energy at Queenie. Atlas darted in front to take the hit, but Queenie was singed by the flame on his tail.

Avaline winced, but it couldn't be helped. "Queenie, twineedle!"

The malamar let out a terrible screeching as Queenie hit it, but the rocks started to shudder, and Avaline realised she'd left herself open again—

"Ava, duck!"

She dived to the floor before it registered that the voice was _Calem's._ Don the chesnaught stood over her and roared, smashing the rocks with his enormous arms. Calem's absol was already picking her way through the rubble at an absurd speed, heading straight for Xerosic's malamar.

Calem helped Avaline to her feet, and she hugged him tightly. "You came! Where's—?"

He smiled, but it was faint. "Team Flare and Malva launched an attack on Lumiose City, so Diantha had to stay behind."

Avaline's heart dropped into her stomach. "And Shauna…?"

"She's fine," Calem said, squeezing her hand. "She stayed above ground to help with the evacuation."

That was good. Shauna wasn't the best at battling, but she was clever, and she'd be great at helping to find people trapped.

Avaline just had to make sure those rescue efforts weren't for nothing.

Before she could say anything, Calem looked at her with a steely glint in his eye. "You go find the weapon and destroy it. I'll take care of Xerosic."

He sounded so sure that she could do it. Avaline took a deep breath and nodded as firmly as she could manage. "I will. Good luck."

"I'll come after you if I get the chance," Calem said. Avaline couldn't consider all the ways that he might not _get the chance_ so she forced herself just to nod, again. "Get ready to run. We'll make an opening for you to get past, but I don't know how long we can distract him."

"I've got a better idea," she said. She whistled for Atlas and Queenie, recalling Queenie into her pokeball before climbing on top of Atlas.

 

 

"Ready when you are," she said to Calem.

He nodded and took a deep breath. Angelika was still keeping the malamar busy, but he could see Xerosic watching them. He would be expecting Avaline to make a break for it, and he'd have a plan to stop her. Calem still didn't know what pokemon Xerosic had _other_ than the malamar, so there was no way of knowing what tricks he might have up his sleeve.

The only way to beat his trickery was with an overwhelming show of power.

"Don, giga impact."

Don put all his weight forward and _charged._ Atlas took off a second later, flying directly behind him and heedless to the shards of rock, floor and wall as Don smashed everything in his path. Calem could see the tell-tale distortions of a psychic attack, but Don didn't slow at all. He wasn't fast, but he was a juggernaut; unstoppable.

As he reached Xerosic and the malamar, Don raised his fist and swung it down at them. Calem's view was obscured, but he saw Xerosic thrown free at the last second, tumbling across the floor and coming to a stop with a groan.

Avaline bent over Atlas and the charizard put on a burst of speed, flying over Xerosic's head, pushing off the wall in order to make it around the corner and out of sight.

That wasn't quite enough. Xerosic was already picking himself up, and even the malamar was still struggling under Don's massive fist. He had to keep Xerosic busy for longer, make it impossible for him to catch up to Avaline.

He released Nimbus - thankful that he'd evolved into an altaria before all this mess started - as Xerosic called out a crobat and said something to it that Calem couldn't hear. It took off after Avaline.

_I can't let that happen._

But he knew one one way to get the crobat to come back. "Nimbus, get Xerosic!"

Nimbus hesitated, which was long enough for the crobat to race back and interpose itself between them before he could do anything to Xerosic.

Calem nodded, satisfied. The point had never been to get Xerosic. _Crobat evolve through a close bond with their trainer. Of course it would come back if its trainer was in danger._

The crobat shrieked in rage and dived for Nimbus, bouncing off his fluffy wings. Nimbus blew it away into the wall.

"Dragon breath!" Calem called, but the crobat fluttered out of the way before the attack could connect.

The malamar had fallen unconscious at some point. Angelika and Don were fighting a volcarona. It didn't fly very well, but it was fast enough to outmanoeuvre Don. Calem called him back and sent out Miso instead; he blasted the volcarona away with a jet of water before Angelika pounced on it.

Nimbus was having a hard time with the crobat. It was fast enough that it could just fly around him and dart in for small hits.

"Nimbus, come down!"

He threw out Barbour's pokeball and the meowstic landed neatly on Nimbus's back. Nimbus let out a faint cry before rising into the air again.

But whilst Calem was distracted, the volcarona had done something and Angelika was limping from a burn on her leg. Miso was giving her cover but it looked like Xerosic was sending out yet another pokemon, hoping to overwhelm them—Barbour had to duck under the crobat, flying low, and he nearly slipped and fell from Nimbus but caught himself in time—Miso was firing off jets of water at the volcarona but it was too fast—Angelika couldn't help, she was dancing around Xerosic's mawile—

It was too much to keep track of at one time. He called Don back out even though the volacrona was still darting about, to give his team more of a numbers advantage, but it was still so hard to _think._

They needed to knock out some of Xerosic's pokemon. The most vulnerable target would be the crobat and the volcarona, since none of his pokemon had a type advantage over the mawile. And the easiest one to take out would be…

"Nimbus, come down! Wing attack on the volcarona!"

The volcarona managed to evade Nimbus at the last second, but was surprised when Barbour hopped off Nimbus's back and sent a psychic attack at it. It didn't do more than distract it, but it was enough time for Miso's water attack to hit it. It tried to flutter away but Nimbus came in for another flying attack, and finally it was still.

Barbour's time on Nimbus's back hadn't been for nothing; the crobat was weakened and flying slower than it had been. It was still fast, though, dodging an ice beam from Miso and another of Barbour's psychic attacks before Nimbus crashed into it and brought it to the ground, keeping it trapped underneath him.

"Barbour, get ready!" Calem said.

Barbour closed his eyes in concentration. After a few moments, there was a visible glow around him. When he opened his eyes, Nimbus shot upwards and even the crobat wasn't quick enough to get back into the air before Barbour's attack hit.

Xerosic was frowning, but he didn't seem worried. Maybe it was because he knew that Calem wouldn't do anything to seriously hurt Xerosic or his pokemon, but it still made Calem feel uneasy.

Don was already helping Angelika fend off the mawile, which looked vaguely panicked as the rest of Calem's pokemon went after it. Calem was even able to give Angelika some berries to help her recover a little from the burn. Xerosic hadn't called out any other pokemon, but Calem had a feeling this wasn't over yet.

The mawile's large jaws clamped around Don's arm as he missed it by inches. It used the leverage to swing itself out of the way of a blast of water from Miso, but it was knocked loose by Nimbus's dragon breath and then Barbour unleashed a psychic attack at it. The mawile barely stumbled, but it was enough of a distraction for Don to bring his fist crashing down again.

There was loud cry from the mawile, the first noise it had made at all, before it disappeared back into its pokeball.

Calem had no time to react before there was an abomasnow standing in front of them, and Xerosic grabbed something at his wrist.

The temperature plummeted as the abomasnow grew larger, new branches growing from its back. Abomasnow were large as it was, but now it simply towered over them.

 _Xerosic can use mega evolution,_ Calem thought tiredly. _Why not?_

Ice crystals began to form under its feet and Calem's breath misted in front of him. His fingers were already starting to go numb from the cold.

The abomasnow breathed out and ice shards flooded the room. Don stuck his arm out to protect Calem and the others, but the shards embedded themselves in his arm and started to _grow._ Don screamed and tried to beat them out of his arm. Calem pulled him back into his pokeball with gritted teeth.

"I planned to use this one against your friend, but…" Xerosic scratched his cheek.

Well, if he was trying to intimidate Calem, it was working. He got through most of his battles on knowing everything about pokemon, but he doubted even Korrina and Arnaud knew about _mega abomasnow_.

"Barbour, set up a barrier," Calem said, retreating away from the spreading patches of ice. "Nimbus…" He'd be especially vulnerable to the abomasnow's ice attacks. "Try your dragon breath from a distance. Miso, try scald." At least Miso was resistant to the ice attacks, which it seemed to be favouring. "Angelika, use swords dance, then… jump in whenever you can."

Angelika gave him a small nod as the rest of them leapt into action.

Calem didn't reach for the necklace under his jacket, but it was a close run thing. They'd only used mega evolution twice, under Diantha's supervision. Calem hadn't even been able to to _stay standing_ either time. So Angelika would be on her own, and she wasn't… right when she was mega evolved. She was far too calm; unable to panic, true, but also unable to feel urgency or be motivated by fear.

The abomasnow flinched away from Miso's scalding attacks, steam rising from its sides that quickly froze again and fell to the ground. It raised an arm, branches growing out like a club as it made to strike Miso—

But Nimbus dived between them and the attack struck him instead. He let out another dragon breath attack in the abomasnow's face, but he wouldn't fly away. It took Calem a moment to realise that Nimbus's cloud-like wings were frozen solid, weighing him down.

The abomasnow sucked in a breath but Calem returned Nimbus to his pokeball and the ice attack hit Miso instead; Barbour, Angelika, and Calem sheltered behind him. He wasn't sure if Rook would be okay fighting against Team Flare - he seemed to like Calem and the rest of his team, now, but would that be enough to make him fight against his old trainer's allies?

The storm of ice shards died down and Angelika darted out, bouncing off the wall to come at the abomasnow with claws outstretched. _Night slash._

They bit deeply into the abomasnow. It tried to swing one of its massive arms at Angelika but she was already darting away.

 _It's slow,_ Calem realised. It was something he'd known before but he'd been too panicked to do anything with that information. It was slow, even slower than most of his team; that's why it hadn't moved very much and why it was favouring area of effect attacks.

_In which case, we need to split up and attack it from all sides._

Miso groaned under the weight of another storm of ice shards.

"Hang in there," Calem said through chattering teeth.

It took him three tries to unclip Rook's pokeball from his belt, his fingers were so numb. He hesitated for a moment.

Barbour tapped his hand, making Calem jump, and nodded. Angelika let out a soft _huff._

There were ice crystals clinging to their fur. If they thought it was worth the risk, who was Calem to disagree? "Alright."

Rook shook himself and stood up tall, holding his arms out warily and kicking the icy floor with narrowed eyes.

"Okay, Miso, stay here, keep using scald as much as you can - if it seems like it might use a grass type move against you, dodge."

Miso let out a whine.

"Don't worry about _me,_ " Calem said, rapping his knuckles on Miso's shell for effect. It was warm from using scald so much, despite the abomasnow's ice attack. Overuse of scald could be dangerous, but what else could they do? It would be even more dangerous not to to have Miso's protection.

"Barbour, use signal beam and keep the barrier up. You're much faster than the abomasnow so it shouldn't be able to catch you as long as you're careful. Angelika—" Calem paused. "And Rook. I need you two to be moving around, attacking where you can. Keep the pressure off Barbour and Miso. Do you think you can do that for me?"

He was looking at Rook as he said it. Rook glanced over at Xerosic before turning back to Calem. He nodded.

Calem sighed with relief. It felt important, but there wasn't time to do more than smile before the ice barrage ended and his pokemon all stepped out from behind Miso, scattering. Calem took some steps away from the fight so Miso wouldn't have to worry about him so much.

Miso's scalding water attacks didn't seem to do more than make the abomasnow flinch and roar - it was just too _cold_ , like throwing a cup of water in a freezing lake, but it seemed to have an instinctual fear of heat. Barbour ran around the abomasnow, jumping over the ice shards it sent after him, when it wasn't distracted by Rook and Angelika darting in.

It should've been enough. Miso's attack weren't effective but the scalding water should've burned the abomasnow at some point, which would weaken it enough for the others to bring the battle to a close. Instead, its freezing body seemed to make it immune. Angelika and Rook took potshots wherever they could - Rook even charged in with what looked like an iron head attack, although his body frosted over and it took him a few minutes to recover - but they were only half the abomasnow's size and didn't seem able to really damage it. Barbour, despite needing nearly a minute to ready signal beam, got in several solid hits, but they didn't to _do anything._

The abomasnow just kept going, throwing out more and more ice, making the temperature drop even further and making the entire hallway treacherous. Calem slipped and fell and a flash of pain ran through his hands where he caught himself on the ice. He had to prise them off, losing a layer of skin, and stumble away from another attack. His fingers were tingling like pins and needles, which was the only feeling in them. He'd stopped noticing how much his teeth chattered.

Miso took another barrage of ice shard and sank to the floor, struggling to get up. The abomasnow raised its arms, going for another wood hammer attack, but Rook jumped between them and caught it on his arms. Calem called Miso back into his pokeball before any more damage could be done, even though Miso protested.

Then the abomasnow turned its attention to Barbour. Without being able to shelter behind Miso, it was harder for him to dodge all of its attacks, and when an ice shard struck him full on, he crumpled to the ground and Calem had to recall him, too.

Then it was just Rook and Angelika. The abomasnow growled.

Angelika shouted something to Rook, a whooping sound, and ran to Calem, pushing at his chest with her nose. Rook fought the abomasnow, distracting it.

"I know," Calem whispered. This might be their only chance. At least Avaline would be well clear, now.

He took a deep breath, feeling the stab of the cold air in his lungs, and reached for the key stone. Angelika was like a song, a gentle hum that grew louder and louder as he reached towards it, beautiful music that drowned out the world…

Angelika's fur was longer, forming a curtain over her eye and and the wings rising out of her back. They weren't actually wings, instead particularly sensitive hairs, like whiskers—

It was cold. Rook was fighting. Angelika— Angelika—

The music in Calem's head drowned everything out, making his thoughts jumbled.

Angelika tilted her head, studying him, as though curious. Rook made a whistling sound like a kettle. She turned her head and started to pad towards him. The music in Calem's head swelled as she prepared to jump. There was a shout; a voice. An ice shard barrelled towards him. Calem couldn't move, and Angelika didn't move, but Rook cut it down before it could hit him.

 _Xerosic._ He probably didn't expect Calem to have mega evolution, too.

Angelika was faster than before and her reactions were quicker. She seemed to sense something in the air— (It was cold.) Rook was acted as a guard, pacing and tense. There was still frost on his helmet-like head. (Angelika didn't get hit; she's okay.) The abomasnow roared, slowly rising to stand on two legs. Was it colder? (It looked unbalanced, but when Angelika struck it, it didn't fall.)

The music was loud. Calem closed his eyes, but it didn't help. He could feel tiny particles of ice brushing against his skin, the sharp of the cold in his lungs; each breath, in and out. The roar of the abomasnow barely registered against the sound in his head.

Rook whistled again, high-pitched and piercing, cutting through the other noises and quieting them.

Calem opened his eyes.

The abomasnow was bleeding and one of the tree-like growths on its back had been ripped away. The fur by Angelika's head was red and dripping blood, but she moved without hurry, pacing around the abomasnow and waiting - Calem could feel it in the song, like tension in the strings of a violin. Xerosic gritted his teeth.

 _Oh,_ Calem thought, _I am still standing._

Angelika pounced, landing on the abomasnow's back and digging with sharp claws, uprooting the other growth. It howled and thrashed, trying to shake her loose, but Angelika was unconcerned. The growth tumbled away, but she kept digging until the abomasnow roared and raised its arms. Glowing leaves flew out from its body all around the room. Xerosic snarled something and covered his face as Rook dived in front of Calem.

Angelika jumped off the abomasnow's back, sporting new cuts, but it was even worse off. Its sides heaved like massive bellows, and when it tried to turn in search of Angelika, it unbalanced and toppled onto its sides. It still managed to create another wood hammer, swinging it at her. Angelika leapt over it and the swing crashed into the wall.

The whole room seemed to tremble, or perhaps that was only Calem himself, as the abomasnow began to shrink back to its original state and Calem sank to his knees. But the abomasnow went away. They _won._

Angelika looked around the room, scanning it for threats. When she found nothing other than Xerosic in the corner, she slowly padded back over to Calem. The song had gone quieter, but it was still hard to move. He wasn't sure if it was the cold or if mega evolution was taking its toll.

He reached up and pulled off the necklace, and it was like the ground had swallowed him whole. Angelika glowed, her fur returning to its normal length, and immediately collapsed. Calem tried to find her pokeball but the world was too quiet, too dull, and it seemed there was no sensation against his fingers.

"Rook…"

Darkness closed in at the edges of his vision, and Calem didn't know how to fight it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am really, really sorry this chapter was late. I struggled a lot with writing Calem's fight, and by then the chapter was getting way too long and needed to be split. But I should be able to get the next on out by Wednesday as usual, so at least there's not a big wait to find out what happens next.


	22. All Things Come to an End

Avaline knew when she'd gotten to the right place because the path abruptly ran out. It seemed like electronic sliding doors had been built into the cave wall, but the panel that operated them was giving off sparks of electricity and they weren't quite closed. It still wasn't enough of a gap for Atlas, so he simply melted them with his fire.

"So you did manage to get here," Lysandre said, his smooth, cultured voice managing to convey both expectation and slight annoyance.

Avaline didn't really care about him right then. She was mesmerised by—it must be the weapon that AZ had built, all those many years ago. It had occurred to her how strange it was, that he'd managed to build such an advanced weapon three thousand years ago - so advanced that it had been believed a myth until recently.

But she understood now. It wasn't the weapon that was noteworthy, not really. Avaline could see bright flashes of copper and steel; where Team Flare must have replaced parts. Perhaps there hadn't really been much of it left to begin with.

It was Yveltal who was the real power behind it, even in the cocoon-like form she only recognised because of the weight in the air.

If she hadn't already stood in front of Diantha's gardevoir twice, Avaline wasn't sure if she could have stood it. It wasn't a _presence,_ but it wasn't overwhelming, like Pirouet. It didn't make Avaline's head ache or her limbs feel weighty. She could fight in it, she was pretty sure. She would still have preferred the headache. Yveltal's aura made her feel cold from the inside; made every breath have the sharp, stabbing quality of the frosty air of Dendemille Town. It seemed unnatural that her breath didn't mist in front of her face.

But then, death was the most natural thing of all.

She couldn't tell if Lysandre was disturbed by it at all. She certainly _wanted_ him to be, with a vicious fury that almost surprised her; she wanted him to feel the _weight_ of what he was doing; she wanted him to carry that feeling with him forever.

But he was simply standing there, letting her drink the whole thing in. Lysandre was probably proud of his work, and in any case, she realised with a jolt, every moment she delayed was in his favour.

Avaline lifted her chin defiantly and forced down all her nerves, all her doubts, and locked them away deep inside where he couldn't see them. She only let her anger shine out of her face, and really, face to face with him like this, it wasn't all that hard. "Well?" she sneered. "Aren't you going to _fight?_ "

"I'd rather talk," Lysandre said.

Still, he pulled out a pokeball from the inside of his fancy jacket and the mienshao appeared before her again. At least she didn't have to force him to _fight._

It wasn't the match up that she would necessarily have picked, but Atlas was right there and would've been furious if she'd told him not to fight, despite everything.

"Wing attack," she said. He flew off at once.

The mienshao was well trained. It waited until the last moment as Atlas bore down on it from the sky before striking, lightning fast, with its forearms – directly towards Atlas's face. He pulled away a moment before he would've collided with it and the mienshao made no move to follow up on the moment of weakness. Avaline found herself biting the inside of her lip. Of course Lysandre's pokemon would be on the defensive. Every moment counted for them just as much as it did for her.

Was it worth risking having Atlas try one of his fire attacks anyway?

Nevermind. He was already coming back for another try at a flying-type attack.

The mienshao struck again, directly at Atlas's face, but Atlas made no move to dodge – Avaline's heart leapt into her throat as it hit him straight in the eye, but in return, Atlas's wings beat the mienshao so hard that he flung it to the ground. Even Lysandre winced. Atlas stood over the mienshao for a moment, proud.

Then, abruptly, the mienshao forced itself to sit up and stuck Atlas very hard in the throat.

Avaline felt it nearly as much as Atlas did himself; he staggered, choking and wheezing. Avaline felt the thread connecting them unravel as Atlas shrank, losing mega evolution. Her mind grew foggier with each step and she fumbled with his pokeball for a few desperate seconds. She didn't think that Lysandre or his pokemon would want – or need – to make any fatal strikes but she didn't want to take chances.

She just wanted to sleep.

Lysandre regarded her solemnly, looking nothing more than slightly disappointed.

That gave her a fresh burst of energy, even if her thoughts were no more distinct than _you son of a_ _ **bitch**_ —

She found Queenie's pokeball and threw it, only because she'd thought of Queenie facing Diantha and choosing her seemed less exhausting than actually _thinking._ But now that Queenie was out, it occurred to Avaline that she could still use mega evolution. Korrina would probably chew her out, but that would be fine, because if she lost Korrina would never chew her out again because everyone would be very, very dead.

When Avaline touched the keystone at her wrist, she felt Queenie hesitate before accepting it. But Queenie must've felt the weight of Yveltal's presence and been able to understand what was going on. Avaline had told everyone how worried she was about what Team Flare would do with the weapon during that brief time in Lumiose City, but—

As soon as Queenie transformed, Avaline's thoughts stopped skittering about like frightened meowth and she felt her head clear again. She was able to meet Lysandre's eye and she even smirked a little when he gave the first sign of discontent, a narrowing of his eyes and a slight downturn of his mouth. It wasn't much, but considering that nothing had been able to shake him so far, Avaline would take what she could get.

"Twineedle!" she told Queenie.

Queenie didn't need any further urging. It was her favourite move. Avaline found herself struggling to stare in horror when Queenie's first sting went _directly through_ one of the mienshao's forepaws and the other one, barely avoided, made a gash in its side.

Of course, if Queenie could put two and two together in her usual form, when mega evolved, she would have even less reason to hold back. And it wasn't, objectively, a terrible idea - neither of those were fatal strikes for a pokemon, as gruesome as they looked, but they sure as hell would prevent the mienshao from fighting any more.

It was still disturbing to see compared to Queenie's normal self.

Except that… Lysandre did not recall it. Queenie had retreated a little distance, and let out her confused buzzing noise. The mienshao looked miserable, and the paw that Queenie had pierced hung uselessly, bleeding steadily. But still, it stood, waiting for Queenie to come again.

Avaline had not thought it was possible for her to become more horrified at Lysandre. Yet he'd somehow managed to prove her wrong. "What?" she snarled. "Are you going to make it _die for you?_ "

Lysandre sighed, almost irritated, but he did bring out the pokeball again. "I suppose there is no sense in unnecessary suffering."

The mienshao shot Avaline a venomous look before it disappeared, though, and Avaline could guess why Lysandre had kept it out - he knew what it wanted. That still made her feel nauseous. _Do they know they're going to die? Would they rather spend their lives here, fighting for his cause?_

Avaline had only known Lysandre as a somewhat bizarre, but sincere, stranger. The way his mienshao looked at him… gave her a glimpse of what he had once been. _How did you come to this, then?_ she wondered.

Lysandre's next pokemon was a honchkrow; Avaline swapped Queenie out immediately. It had occurred to her that she probably would have to do that anyway – the… adrenaline rush or shared energy from their connection or whatever was the only thing keeping Avaline capable right now. If Queenie lost her mega evolution too, Avaline would faint for real this time and then…

She didn't want to think about what would happen then.

Johto was an easy pick. The last time he'd been outside of his pokeball, he'd been flying through the air, so Avaline wasn't surprised to see him come out a little disorientated. He shook himself, giving a brief, nervous look at the cocoon form of Yveltal.

Without using mega evolution to face him, it was easy to see how powerful his pokemon were. His Battle Chateau title of _Grand Duke_ was well deserved. Johto had only a slight edge in speed and the honchkrow beat him out in manoeuvrability – and made good use of it, making it nearly impossible for Johto to charge up a full Thunderbolt attack. The honchkrow didn't even try to come down to make an attack itself. Avaline gritted her teeth. _He's on the defensive. He just has to waste time._

Eventually Johto managed to get enough hits in that the honchkrow went down. Avaline thought it had become paralysed at one point and exhausted itself trying to fly past the muscle cramps and seizing. Who knows how it had even managed it at all.

She didn't know how much time left they had to stop the weapon. She didn't know how many pokemon Lysandre had left, or how long he could use those pokemon to delay them. Come to think of it, she didn't even know how to stop the weapon.

He released a pyroar this time. But after that…?

Avaline recalled Johto from the pyroar and paused. Senshi was the obvious choice, even if he'd already fought Malva's pokemon today. But… playing elemental _rock paper scissors_ like this was starting to feel like just a waste of time. The weapon was the important thing and it was right there! And yet it seemed far away. She couldn't even see a control panel or anything for it. Maybe there was one locked away somewhere that only Lysandre, or Xerosic, could access.

_What do I do?_

A thought came to her suddenly. It wasn't the battle that was important. Lysandre didn't care about her. As much as he made her angry, he shouldn't be important to her either. The important thing was the weapon, and it was _right there._ There might not be a highly visible off switch, but—if she could somehow destroy it—

She didn't know exactly how the weapon was supposed to work. Avaline wished she had thought to ask AZ just a little more about it before she left, but it was too late for that now. What would happen if she destroyed it, would the amount of energy it had "stolen" from Yveltal so far just sort of… fizzle away? Or would it fire with whatever power it had? She could see where the weapon linked to the crystal flower above their heads.

Maybe… if she could sever that in one clean blow, she'd be able to stop the weapon firing at all. The energy from Yveltal might backfire somehow but Team Flare's headquarters (even if she thought uncomfortably of her and Calem, still inside) wasn't important compared to the rest of the _world_. But the piping linking Yveltal with the crystal was as thick as she was tall. She'd need an overwhelming amount of power to even hope to cut through it. And Lysandre surely wouldn't just stand there and let her.

But if it _worked…_

Avaline pulled out Ariel's pokeball. When she released him he was standing right next to her, and over the powerful hum of the weapon, she doubted Lysandre heard what she murmured to him, under her breath. Lysandre was still standing there, smug and complacent.

Avaline purposefully didn't look at the weapon when she touched her keystone and felt Ariel grab hold of the power and transform. It didn't produce the familiar surge of energy at all this time, instead leaving her feeling hollow. She was sure that was a bad sign.

It was still worth it for the way Lysandre's eyes went wide when Ariel turned and fired a Focus Blast, not at the pyroar, but at the weapon's connection to the crystal. Something dark and thick burst out like from a steam vent from where Ariel's attack had cracked the tube, and then the cracks started to spread.

"No!" Lysandre said.

The next thing Avaline knew she was on the floor. She blinked up into the face of the snarling pyroar. She could feel its hot breath on her face and see the rows of sharp teeth, feel the claws digging into her shoulder.

Before she blinked again Ariel punched the pyroar and it went sailing away with a yowl. There was another pokemon's roar; Lysandre let out someone else? Ariel looked at her blankly for a moment before turning away to deal with the new threat. Avaline winced and slowly pushed herself back up to her feet.

The crack in the connective piping was larger now. The dark energy – Yveltal's, presumably – didn't seem to sink like it should; instead, it rose like heat, and now cracks were forming in the ceiling. _Well, that isn't good,_ Avaline thought. _I hope Calem can get out okay…_

Lysandre's gyarados must've been the one in the photo they'd seen, all the way back in Aquacorde Town, because there it was again now, towering above her with long, long fangs. It didn't look so much stumpy as it did powerful, muscles bulging and rippling.

It roared as the connection to the crystal shattered. Avaline had to jump backwards to avoid being crushed by an enormous chunk of pipe, but it was probably just as well, because she'd forgotten about the pyroar. It also had to move out of the way of the pipe and that gave her time to call out Senshi before it leapt for her again.

Senshi blasted it away with water shuriken, looking wildly around the cavern. Avaline saw Ariel thrown back into a wall by the gyarados's thrashing tail, and then a chunk of the ceiling fell down between it and Ariel, throwing up a cloud of dust and soil which made Avaline cough.

She called out Brittany to help heal Ariel, but he was already clambering over the rubble to get back into the fight. Brittany let out a high pitched, questioning trill as Senshi pushed the pyroar back with another set of water shuriken attacks.

"It should be safe now!" Avaline told her. "The weapon shouldn't work anymore!"

She realised that she didn't really feel relieved, though, just sort of numb. _We still have to get out. And what about Calem?_

Brittany nudged her, standing so close she was practically sitting on her foot. Avaline forced a smile from somewhere. "Look, you just help Senshi, okay? Use Heal Pulse. I'll… I'll think of something."

The cracks in the ceiling were starting to look more like gashes. Avaline let Brittany urge her towards the weapon in the centre of the room, which was weirdly one of the more sheltered places. She had lost sight of Ariel but could still see the gyarados. It let out a high powered jet of water which punched clean through a stalactite, bringing an entire chunk of ceiling down on top of it _and_ Ariel. Not that the gyarados seemed bothered, merely shaking itself free and going back to its rampage.

Avaline wished she could call Calem to tell him to get out. She supposed she could try making a run for it, but she wasn't sure if the mega gyarados would chase them and all the previous chambers were much smaller than this one; it would probably bring them all crashing down—

 _But_ _ **I**_ _don't have to go!_

Johto had been out a lot today but he was still good to run. He shrank back at seeing all the damage to the chamber, only perking up a little bit when Avaline knelt down next to him and gave him a gentle stroke. "Johto, I need to you to go warn Calem, tell him to get out of here – help him get back to the surface if he needs it."

Johto let out a whine.

"We'll be fine," Avaline said. "We'll meet you up there later, okay? Now go!"

Still, he didn't move.

Avaline had almost gotten used to the chilling effect of Yveltal's presence. So it took a moment for her to notice when it suddenly got colder. She frowned, looking over her shoulder.

The cocoon was moving.

_Yveltal was moving._

Avaline's mind went blank and she stared at the cocoon as it trembled and shifted. Like stretching after a long time spent in one position.

_Yveltal's awake._

Johto huddled closer to Avaline, hissing, which jolted her. Her tongue felt heavy in her mouth with fear. "I'll be fine. Johto, you have to go; you have to warn Calem—"

Johto shook his head and put a paw on Avaline's knee. She blinked at him, unable to say anything. Brittany said something to Johto in her sing song voice, making him tilt his head. She let out another note, soothing and low. Johto removed his paw from Avaline's knee and licked it instead, and, after briefly touching noses with Brittany, sped off. Avaline watched him go and hoped she hadn't been lying to him.

The black sides of the cocoon started to shift and rise. Yveltal's great head rose up, red with black stripes that ran the length of its body. It looked neither like a bird nor like a dragon, having sharp horns, but not the typical rounded dragon snout; it had the pointed face of a bird, but no beak to speak of. Avaline stood motionless as an eye of solid blue regarded her for a moment. She thought she was pretty good at guessing what pokemon wanted to say from their body language and expressions, but Yveltal felt totally alien to her. Unknowable.

Yveltal unfurled its wings, releasing a wave of ene. Avaline took shelter behind the remnants of the weapon to avoid being thrown against the wall. She felt something like a jerk as Ariel's mega evolution faded and suddenly she felt like'd she'd run a marathon. Her limbs were heavy and clumsy. Forcing herself to stand upright again was an enormous effort. But she had to find Ariel, make sure he was safe…

Brittany let out a quiet noise and pulled Avaline to the side. She spotted Lysandre, at the opposite corner of the cavern. There was blood running down his face and his expensive suit was torn in several places and covered in filth. But he still managed something like his normal stoic demeanour as Yveltal _roared_ at him. He merely pointed at it, and his gyarados came, barrelling into Yveltal with a defiant screech.

For a very brief moment, Avaline found herself envying Lysandre.

Then she spotted Ariel, half buried under a pile of rubble, and forgot all about Lysandre. Her legs gave out on her when she was only a few feet away. She crawled the rest of it, taking deep, heaving breaths. Eventually she managed to haul herself up next to Ariel. She touched his face gently. He opened one eye and made a noise of acknowledgement.

"You did it, Ariel," she told him. "Thank you."

Ariel nodded and raised his hand for a fist bump. Avaline choked on her own laughter and returned it with a shaking hand before recalling Ariel back into his pokeball.

When he was gone, she let out a sigh and collapse on top of the heap of rubble. She knew she should be doing _something,_ but she desperately wanted to rest.

Brittany shook Avaline, making urgent squeaking sounds and sending out a healing pulse. It didn't do much except jolt Avaline as she wasn't a pokemon, but it was convincing enough to force herself into a sitting position. Brittany tugged on her hand.

Across the cavern, Avaline could see Lysandre slumped against a wall. His skin was pale and his eyes were closed. She frowned.

Brittany pushed the release button on Queenie's pokeball, and then Atlas's. Atlas seemed to look as bleary eyed as Avaline felt, but at something Brittany said, he nodded and awkwardly scooped Avaline up in his arms. She saw Brittany pointing upwards and finally grasped what was going on.

Avaline let out a noise of protest. "No! We can't _go!_ What about Senshi?"

Brittany shook her head.

She just stared at her for a second.

Then she started thrashing, making Atlas drop her. "No! Senshi, Senshi where are you?"

_Senshi would have died for me. I won't leave him, I won't!_

" _Senshi!_ "

A weak croak, not too far away. Avaline managed to stagger upright and fought her way over, despite Brittany holding onto her leg and trying to drag her back. It wasn't long before she saw him, but it felt like longer; he was tucked up against the side of the weapon, nursing a nasty burn. He let out another weak croak when he saw Avaline.

Avaline collapsed next to him, only half intentionally, and fumbled for a moment with his pokeball. He leaned against her shoulder. Avaline smiled at him before he disappeared in a flash of light. She let out a sigh of relief. That was everyone now, all together again.

The pyroar was lying not far away. Avaline squinted at it, wondering why it wasn't trying to get back to Lysandre if he was injured. She stared into its eyes, frowning. It didn't blink.

Oh. _Oh, it's dead,_ Avaline thought. But why?

It felt like something grabbed her then, something that was a little like the feel of mega evolution, but instead of a tie, a string, it felt more like a root, drying her out.

When Yveltal woke, it was supposed to replenish its life energy by stealing the lives of others.

_Oh._

Brittany let out a fierce cry and gathered the energy for a moonblast above her head, which actually knocked Yveltal back. Avaline felt the deathly root retreat slightly.

There was a rush of wind as Queenie sped past her, knocking into Yveltal with her stingers and drawing blood. Atlas gathered Avaline into his arms and this time, she didn't protest. She only pressed Brittany's pokeball to her head, saying, "I know you were trying to help, but I couldn't have left Senshi behind."

Atlas's exhaustion was obvious now. He tried to take off, but his wingbeats were slow and he couldn't get off the ground. He looked over at Yveltal, batting Queenie aside with one casual stroke of its wings, and narrowed his eyes. He tugged on the thread that connected to her key stone.

Wait. He wasn't… wasn't supposed…

"Atlas." Avaline's voice cracked. "Atlas, it will hurt you."

He hesitated, but he looked over at Yveltal again, and pulled on the thread. Avaline had forgotten how to stop him, and she gasped as her vision went blurry and her stomach swooped, but she didn't even have the energy to retch.

Atlas burned against her skin, but he took to the air. Avaline couldn't call Queenie, but she disengaged from Yveltal and followed them.

Avaline could still feel the root of Yveltal's presence within her. It felt more real and solid than anything else, so she clung to when when Yveltal started to pull on it again.

Then suddenly the link to Yveltal snapped altogether. Avaline was left adrift. She couldn't resist craning her neck to see what had happened, and, to her horror, saw Queenie engaging Yveltal head on.

"Queenie!" She found her voice, although it sounded strange to her ears, pitched wrong and getting quieter at the end instead of louder. "You can't face it by yourself!"

She paid Avaline no heed, batting one of Yveltal's wings away with a stinger. But then she was hit by its great tail and went tumbling away, losing height.

She disappeared out of Avaline's sight. Atlas didn't slow. " _Queenie!_ "

They had barely made it to the surface before Atlas near-collapsed onto the ground, dropping Avaline under the shadow of the crystal weapon before he crashed.

Avaline wanted to sleep for a few thousand years. But she thought of Queenie, fighting in the cavern below, and dragged herself towards the edge of the hole where the cavern roof used to be.

There was no sign of Queenie. Avaline felt the link through Queenie's mega evolution begin to ebb, no matter how much she tried to cling onto it. "Queenie, where are you? Follow my voice!"

No answer came back, but Avaline thought she saw something move in the darkness. She would have cried in relief, but after another moment, she realised that the shadow was too big, the movements too ponderous—

Avaline screamed as Yveltal rose up out of the darkness of the cave, shattering the beautiful crystal weapon with a single beat of its wing. Before she could move, Avaline found her legs trapped under a piece of crystal as big as herself. They must have broken, but she didn't feel it and only heard a snap as though it was right next to her ear, because the rest of the crystal pieces tumbled back into the gaping cavern, and Avaline felt her connection to Queenie abruptly sever.

_No._

She choked, reaching futilely over the rim of the cavern. _No!_

Yveltal started to drain her again, but the sensation was unreal and distance. Avaline ignored it even as the people of Geosenge started to scream.

"Queenie," she whispered, looking down into the dark. Nothing stirred.

_It's not fair-_

Atlas roared and she awkwardly looked over her shoulder, unable to move far because of her trapped legs. He breathed fire at Yveltal. It flinched away from the heat, but the heavy flapping of its wings sent Atlas tumbling away through the air. He landed heavily, shaking himself and taking off into the sky again before Avaline could say anything.

Somehow, Yveltal looked even more enormous outside of the cavern. It was more than twice as big as Atlas, and dwarfed the ruins of Geosenge Town.

"Atlas, come back!" she shouted, but he either couldn't hear or ignored her.

_No, no, stop it!_

_I don't want any more of you to die because of me._

It was hard to remember that they'd won, that Team Flare's plans had been averted. Her arms had lost the strength to hold her up. A flash of yellow caught Avaline's eye - Johto, dragging a limp Calem along by a mouthful of his jacket. They were okay. Rook was there too, ushering Xerosic forward with threatening gestures of his sharp arms.

Until Yveltal turned his attention on them.

Calem didn't stir, but Xerosic flinched and Johto dropped his mouthful of Calem's jacket. His fur began to spark with electricity, and he loosed off a thunder attack at Yveltal. Yveltal barely seemed to notice, but Atlas used the momentary distraction to breathe fire at Yveltal's underbelly. It darted away after a moment, blowing Atlas back to the ground. His chest was heaving and this time, he didn't rise. Avaline couldn't reach him.

More trainers and pokemon started to converge on the scene, dozens and dozens, and it would make no difference at all. There was a sylveon running in the middle of the pack, followed by a familiar face.

_Shauna, don't—_

But Avaline couldn't speak, let alone shout.

Calem stirred, and Avaline watched him push himself upright, gaping at Yveltal. He looked around, spotting Xerosic, and started to shout. He wasn't even that far away, but his voice sounded distorted and strange, and Avaline couldn't understand a word he was saying. But she saw when Xerosic reached into his jacket to pull out a pokeball and point it at Yveltal.

For a moment Avaline wondered what he thought it would accomplish, and then she remembered the master ball. He must still have it. He just had to pick the right moment...

Avaline's eyelids were heavy. _Shauna and Atlas will be okay, at least._

She thought of Queenie again and didn't care when her vision went dark. **  
**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's only one main storyline chapter and an epilogue left, so rather than stretch out the ending for another two weeks, I plan to get them both finished ASAP and to post them both at the same time. Hopefully those chapters should then go up this weekend, but I'm not promising.


	23. Restoration

The first person Avaline saw when she woke up was her mother. Mum wrapped Avaline in a tight hug before Avaline could even realise where she was.

Starchy blankets, the smell of disinfectant, and pale, uninspired walls… it was the hospital. It was all over.

"What-" she started to say, but then she began to cough. Her throat felt like sandpaper and her tongue was heavy.

Mum only squeezed her tighter. "They couldn't do anything about Queenie. I'm sorry. But everyone else made it through okay."

"Atlas…"

"Him too." Mum finally let Avaline go. Her eyes were red. "I'm really proud of you," she whispered, "but please don't ever do that to me again."

And she started to cry.

 

Mum visited every day, whenever visiting hours allowed. Sometimes she didn't do more than hold Avaline's hand. Roran was too big to come into Avaline's room in the hospital, so Mum would call in from outside and let Roran grumble into the speaker. Avaline noticed that Mum had dug her old pokegear out of storage for this, but she didn't mention it.

Avaline's recovery was a long and protracted process, made worse by the fact that she was stuck in hospital with two broken legs. After the hospital cleared her for non-family visitors, she was unable to avoid anyone, even when she'd rather be left alone. It seemed like everyone she'd ever met, even in passing, had come to offer their condolences about Queenie.

Avaline still felt the _snap_ of their connection breaking every night. Whilst she was awake, it would be nice to pretend for a little while that everything was fine.

Korrina was the worst. At least Diantha had lectured her about overdoing it ("They had to revive you at the scene, you know!") and Shauna made an effort to talk about trivial, harmless things, even if she kept losing her train of thought and going suddenly teary eyed. Calem was dependable, bringing in important news that Avaline wanted to hear (Xerosic had gotten off too lightly) but with a detached, clinical air that almost made it seem like the whole thing had happened to somebody else.

But Korrina… Korrina kept trying to apologise for not being there. That was worse than anything, because Avaline kept wanting to accept it, to shout and tell Korrina that it was all _her_ fault.

But she knew in the end it would only make her feel worse, because it _wasn't_ Korrina's fault. Avaline was the one who had been there. Avaline was the one who was supposed to look after Queenie. Avaline was—

_The one Queenie had died for._

It went on like this for a while.

 

About three weeks into her recovery, Avaline had a new visitor. That wasn't too surprising; so far, she'd had at least two 'new visitors' a week. She didn't recognise this one, a middle aged woman with short brown hair, wearing practical travel clothing and a baseball cap. Avaline squinted at her and tried not to be too obviously confused. Maybe she was one of the Rangers from Dendemille Town?

"Hey there," the stranger said. "Don't mind me, I'm just here as an escort."

She took out a pokeball from inside her jacket. In a moment, a zigzagoon appeared on Avaline's bed, a warm weight across her thighs. He shook his fur out so he looked at least twice as big and sniffed at her suspiciously.

"Sunny?" Avaline said.

He licked her cheek in response. Avaline found herself laughing without even knowing why.

"He saw you on the news and got worried," the lady said. Avaline recognised her now as the owner of the Day Care near Camphrier Town, even if she couldn't remember her name. "After the third time he tried to find the way to Lumiose City by himself, I thought I'd better bring him out to see you."

Avaline didn't quite know what to say. There was a lump forming in her throat and her eyes burned. It was ridiculous, because lots of people had come to visit her 'because of the news'. But for it to be Sunny—he'd known Queenie too.

Her vision started to blur. The Day Care lady made polite excuses and stepped outside.

Sunny put his arms on her chest and snuggled up against her neck. Automatically, Avaline put her arms around him. He smelled like honey. Just being near to him reminded her of happier times.

"Sunny—" she burst out. "It's all my fault. Queenie's dead and it's all my fault…"

Sunny let out a low, rumbling noise. Avaline felt it right next to her pulse, and for some reason, she started to cry.

"It's not right," Avaline choked out through sobs. "Queenie was always so kind and she—and she—why did she have to be the one to die?"

 _Why would she die for me? What have_ _ **I**_ _done, that's so special, that would deserve…_

Sunny let out a soft bark and licked her ear. Avaline choked on her own snot from giggling.

"And you came to see me, too, even though I left you with the Day Care all that time ago." She had meant to visit him, but after that, everything had started happening so quickly… "I don't deserve any of you," Avaline whispered.

Sunny let out a growl and sat down suddenly on her thighs, lifting his nose in the air with a touch of pride.

Avaline knew what he was trying to say, but she didn't want to believe it. As bad as it was to think that Queenie had died because she hadn't been good enough, it was somehow immeasurably worse to think that she'd done it _voluntarily_ because she loved Avaline. It reminded her too much of the way Senshi had destroyed his pokeball in the Badlands, rather than leave her alone; the way that Ariel had jumped in front of the talonflame's fire just to protect her, as natural as breathing; how Atlas had been slowly bleeding to death, but still tried to fly; Johto, who knew he was the weakest of them, frightened even _being_ in the half-destroyed cavern, determined nonetheless to protect Avaline; when Brittany had attacked a legendary pokemon known as _the embodiment of death_ , because of Avaline's recklessness…

Because that meant… it could have been any of them. _It could've been all of them._ And all Avaline would have been able to do is to watch them die.

"I'm scared," she said. "What if… what if something else happens and… they get hurt protecting me again, or even—" She swallowed hard. She couldn't bring herself to finish the thought out loud. "I don't know what I'd do if I lost anyone else."

Sunny nuzzled her hand. Then he grabbed it gently between his teeth, tucked it into Avaline's side, then squeezed himself next to her and lay on top of it before promptly falling asleep. She smiled softly. Sunny hadn't changed a bit.

She thought about what the Day Care lady had said, about Sunny leaving by himself three times to try to find her; the possessive way he'd grabbed her hand, and settled on top of it, so he would know if she tried to go anywhere without him. The way that everyone had stopped round, Charles of Parfum Palace and his furfrou; Victoire from Geosenge, barely out of hospital herself; Leader Viola, who had whispered 'I knew you were extraordinary,' whilst clenching her hands together so tightly her knuckles were white—all because they'd just seen her on the news, nearly dying, and that was _all_.

The way Johto, Brittany, and Queenie had had to find out, too late to do anything, that Avaline could have died in the Badlands; that she'd never even thought about calling on any of them to defend her knowing they'd only suffer. The way Atlas and Ariel had looked at her, when she'd chosen dying over seeing them hurt any more. The way she'd thought to herself _I can't leave without Senshi_ but had really meant _I'd rather die than leave Senshi behind._

It didn't… it didn't really make anything better. There was still an ache inside her that seemed like it would never go away. She still couldn't picture any future where it wouldn't _hurt_ , where she wouldn't half-think _it should've been me, instead._

But it made her… understand.

 

There was another surprise one day, a week before she was due to be released, when her mother walked in at her usual time - with Mariko hot on her heels.

Avaline could only blink at her before Mariko threw her arms around Avaline, sniffling. "Y-You weren't returning my emails and you could have _died,_ Lin, a-and-"

"But what…" Her mouth finally caught up with her brain. Mariko was in Kalos! "How did you _get_ here?"

Mariko broke away, sheepish. "Well, I, uh, I managed to get into my parents' savings account to get a plane ticket, and..."

"You stole from your parents to come see me?!" Avaline hissed, dismayed. "But-!"

"I just saw you on the news!" Mariko blurted. "I just saw you and you nearly died and everyone was so _worried-!_ " She cut herself off to hug Avaline again with tears in her eyes. "I know my parents are going to be _so mad,_ but I couldn't... couldn't _not_ come see you."

"That's…"

But Avaline couldn't finish the sentence.

"I'll pay back Mariko's parents," Mum said. Normally, Avaline was sure, she would've shouted at Mariko herself. But she just looked tired and resigned. "Don't worry."

Mariko scrubbed away her tears with a determined expression, pulling a pokeball out of her pocket. "And look!"

Before Avaline could say anything, there was a small blue pokemon sitting on her knees. Appa flapped his ears, like he always did when he was anxious, and started sniffing Avaline with his trunk.

She patted his head and struggled not to cry.

"Obviously, I would've been here sooner if it was just me!" Mariko said. She gave Avaline a watery smile. "But Appa was really scared for you, so I had to get a permit for him and everything."

Avaline didn't say anything, but she hugged Appa very tightly. He made a quiet, happy trumpeting sound, and snuggled into her arms like he'd never left them.

"Thanks, Mariko," she said.

 

When she got out of hospital, there was nothing to do but go back home with her mother. Mariko was staying at her home too, for another few weeks - the result of a long shouting match with her parents, but ultimately, they were worried about Avaline too.

Avaline had agreed to it, but the house in Vaniville Town didn't feel like home at all. The bedroom had been designed for a whole other person, and seemed less comforting than the identical Centre rooms and having the sound of Shauna's steady breathing. She slept badly, but still spent every day outside, letting her pokemon run around outside since the house itself was much too small.

The neighbours tried to be friendly to Avaline, and it was a nice thought, but… it just felt too much like when the journalists had been pressing her for answers - just strangers pretending. It wasn't fair, since the neighbours knew Avaline's mother by now and had heard a lot about her, but she still preferred to spend her time alone with her team, her family, and Mariko, forcing herself to eat and having no idea what to do next.

Without Queenie, there seemed to be something vital missing that they couldn't quite overcome. Brittany's worry turned into nagging as she fussed over everyone endlessly. Ariel and Senshi came to blows several times, arguing about something that neither would explain to Avaline. Atlas sequestered himself from all of them, never quite going far enough away to lose sight of them completely, but hiding his face under his wing when Avaline tried to talked to him. Johto just wanted everyone to be happy, and he ran around yapping at them - but it just made the atmosphere more tense when they started to snap at him. He gave up, lying next to Avaline and licking his paws and whining occasionally.

The only thing they could all agree on was that Avaline wasn't allowed to say 'sorry', no matter how hard she tried. Whatever else she tried to say always ended up with her crying. She didn't know how to make it better between them and she felt Queenie's memory hovering at her shoulder as a reprimand.

_I'm sorry, I'm sorry…_

Mariko put on her most determined face and forced Avaline to be her translator when he made awkward conversation with Calem and Shauna. It was so obviously forced - Mariko sometimes picked up a totally different topic whenever she ran out of things to say, much to Calem and Shauna's confusion.

At first, Appa stuck closely to Mariko, Avaline or Roran, a little frightened by this new environment. But after a few days, he began to enjoy playing tag with Johto's lightning, which naturally had no effect on him at all. He would poke Johto with his trunk and then dash away, giggling. Johto was far too fast for Appa to actually get away, but they seemed to have fun.

Brittany watched carefully and kept interrupting their games to check them for injuries, but she relaxed when she realised it really didn't hurt Appa at all. She even invented another game for them to play, a throwing game which Appa won nine times out of ten. Johto started to get grouchy at losing so often until Atlas growled something at him. Judging by the way Johto flattened his ears and yipped apologetically, Atlas probably pointed out that Johto won all the chasing, so it was only fair for Appa to be better at something too.

Avaline ran over to Atlas and threw her arms around him before he could retreat. "Thanks for looking out for everyone," she said.

Atlas hesitated, and then gently bumped her forehead with his snout.

Gradually, things seemed to get better. The atmosphere was lighter with Appa and Johto playing all the time, and whilst Atlas was still quiet, he sat nearer to them all than before. Roran also seemed to get fed up with Senshi and Ariel's constant arguments, so for a few days he followed the two of them around insistently, bellowing whenever they began to bicker to drown out their voices. Mum received a lot of noise complaints from the neighbours, but Roran was persistent, and eventually Senshi and Ariel managed to talk it out at a reasonable volume with Roran looking on smugly. They still weren't as friendly as they had been, but they could be civil with each other now.

By the time Mariko and Appa were due to leave, it wasn't like things were back to normal, because it couldn't be _normal_ without Queenie. But they were mending.

Mariko tapped her chin thoughtfully, watching Appa say goodbye to everyone. "Hmm… what do you think about Appa staying here?"

Avaline blinked. "But it's not allowed. And he's already settled in with your guys."

"I think he'd like to stay with you if he could," Mariko said, "and anyway, it's not _banned,_ you just need a permit! I think they'd totally give one to the girl who saved the world."

Avaline didn't have an answer for that, and Mariko took it as acceptance, beaming and calling Appa over. "Hey, how would you like to come live with Avaline again?"

Appa looked delighted, opening his ears as big as they could go.

"And what about you guys?" Mariko said to everyone else. "You wouldn't mind, right?"

They all nodded, Roran roared in approval, and Mum crouched down and patted Appa's head. He made a happy trumpeting sound. "I think that would be good for everyone," she said.

 _It's not replacing Queenie,_ Avaline thought, _I loved Appa before I ever met Queenie. Just like Senshi didn't replace Appa._

It still felt irrationally mean-spirited, but in the face of everyone's support, the little voice at the back of her head fell silent. Avaline smiled at Appa's little face. "Well… there's no harm in trying, anyway."

 

Of course, saving the world wasn't one of those things that just went unacknowledged. Avaline half hoped that they would've held the celebrations whilst she was still in hospital, but it was six months before Geosenge Town was recovered enough that holding a _celebration_ wouldn't seem crassly insensitive. By then it was hard to tell that she'd ever been hurt at all.

Despite all their efforts, the eruption of the ultimate weapon at Geosenge Town had killed a number of people. There had never been any chance to save them, Avaline knew, from Calem passing along Xerosic's testimony; Lysandre's holocaster broadcast had gone out just as the weapon was being activated.

Still, that didn't stop Avaline from gripping the hem of her skirt tightly to stop herself from crying as Korrina read out the long list of names of the dead. When they moved onto the pokemon, Lysandre's gyarados and pyroar were included, even though the man himself had not been.

Queenie's name was last of all.

Avaline stared at her fists, willing herself not to cry. Shauna's tan hand covered her right hand; Calem's calloused, pale fingers her left. It felt better to have them there; at least she knew all their feelings of sympathy, for her _and_ Queenie, were genuine and not just out of a sense of obligation. Many people were quite happy to praise a teenage girl who'd saved the world—but to hear her talk about the beedrill that had not only saved _her_ life, but had been instrumental in saving the lives of everyone… well, bug types were not well liked. It was difficult to humanise an insect.

"Yeah, if you're a close-minded TV presenter whose children have to be bribed to even be in the same room as him," Shauna had muttered disdainfully. Avaline had choked on her awful vending machine coffee, whilst Calem only nodded solemnly as though Shauna had dispensed a pearl of great wisdom.

Avaline unclenched her fists and grasped their hands. Shauna and Calem had been unendingly patient with her. She was trying to stop herself from thinking that that meant she didn't deserve them, but it was hard.

The celebrations went on. There was an exclusive party afterwards in Parfum Palace, to raise funds for all the survivors from Geosenge Town. Avaline put on her best smile, the one she'd perfected for her mother's gigs, and let people tell her how _brave_ she had been whilst she thanked them through gritted teeth. She recognised their ingratiating tones from her mother's gigs, too, and kept thinking of that long list of names whilst she told them she would be _very_ grateful if they made a generous donation this evening. On that list somewhere had been Victoire's grandson. The old lady had lost so much already; it was the least Avaline could do to help Geosenge Town and the survivors get back on their feet.

Avaline spared some kind thoughts for Professor Sycamore, who had bullied Charles into offering the use of the palace for the party free of charge (in Charles' defence, it hadn't taken much bullying once Korrina had promised her pokemon would _personally_ be on hand to punish anyone who damaged any of the Palace's artefacts). The professor was pointedly asking every person who came within five feet of him, "Have you made a donation yet tonight?" with all the determined cheer of a broken record. Avaline knew this because he had accidentally blurted it to her, blinked, said, "Oh, it's just you," and then walked away to ambush someone she vaguely recognised from the Battle Chateau.

Eventually, though, the party started to feel claustrophobic. Whilst Ferdi was causing a stir by throwing out some journalist who had touched one of the paintings, she took the opportunity to slip outside. The Palace gardens didn't feel like a great space to relax, to her. They were too cultivated, and didn't feel much more comforting than the Palace itself, but at least she could hide away for a bit.

Avaline stood watching the stars for, but then she started to feel chilly in only her short sleeved dress and decided to take a walk.

The gardens were a little creepy at night. They were lit perfunctorily by tiny lanterns which cast the topiary in deep shadow and made Avaline feel like they were about to leap out at her.

She considered going back inside, but the guests at the party might _literally_ leap out at her.

After a while, she wandered into a more open area of the gardens. Each small clearing seemed to be home to a new and more elaborate fountain, dotted with flower bushes in complementary colours. Avaline hadn't even realised there _were_ complementary colours for water features. Each fountain was dedicated to a pokemon native to Kalos: elegant florges, blank-faced goodra, intimidating chesnaught…

She stopped abruptly at a fountain which featured a complex display of skrelp and dragalge. There was a weird shape by one of the shrubs cast in just enough shadow to obscure its form. Avaline took a quiet step back, hoping that she hadn't been noticed, but the thing drew up, standing at its full height—

She blinked. It was only AZ.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I did not mean to startle you."

Avaline nodded, trying to get her heartbeat back under control and resisting the urge to release one of her pokemon. Normally she never went anywhere without them, but Diantha had persuaded her to limit herself to Atlas and Senshi for this evening. She was trying to rely less on her pokemon for getting over small scares. Even if she knew intellectually that it wasn't anything dangerous, they always seemed to pick up on her distress and become agitated. Last time, Ariel had paced for hours.

"Did you come here to see me?" Avaline asked, instead of dwelling on the pokeballs in her little over-the-shoulder clutch. In normal circumstances it might've been a little arrogant, but literally everyone here tonight was here to meet her to a greater or lesser extent.

"Well, I had considered it."

Avaline frowned. It was hard to see his face in the poor lighting. She couldn't tell if he was joking, being purposefully enigmatic, or… She decided to change tack. "How have you been? Are you recovered? You disappeared without a word."

"I did not want any attention," AZ said. "Nor did I need medical attention. As a side effect of my condition, injuries heal up very quickly. But thank you for your concern, and for rescuing me from Lysandre's prison," he added graciously. He bowed to her, which looked ungainly and awkward for someone of his large frame.

Avaline appreciated the sentiment nonetheless. "So Xerneas really did curse you."

It was a kind of horrifying idea, to just keep _on_ living for thousands of years, watching your own body change and become a stranger to you. Not that what AZ had done didn't deserve _some_ kind of punishment, but… for thousands of years?

Well, she supposed it proved the point of that historian she'd read – Xerneas and Yveltal didn't neatly fit as 'good and evil'. They simply _were._

AZ did not confirm or deny it. "I heard about your beedrill," he said instead. "I am sorry. It is always hard to lose a loved one."

Lately, hearing condolences had started to make Avaline feel angry. They did nothing other than remind her Queenie was dead, and at least half the people who gave their condolences didn't really _mean_ it, they just felt obliged to say something.

But when AZ said it, she knew he really did understand. It brought tears to her eyes instead. She still missed Queenie, so much, _every day._ She would have given almost everything to have her back. At times, she'd even flirted with the idea of… well, the weapon was broken now. It probably wouldn't have been possible for her, anyway. "Does it… ever get better?"

"I don't know if I can really say. My floette, she…" He trailed off awkwardly. Avaline supposed he both had her and lost her at the same time. After a drawn out pause, he said, "I think it is… worse, to feel unworthy of them. So we must strive every day to be the person they wished us to be."

Avaline nodded, digesting this. She wasn't sure what kind of person Queenie had wished her to be.

AZ seemed to have said his piece, because he gave her a sad smile and then began to walk away. He was equal with her with only a few long strides. Briefly, he stooped and patted her shoulder. "If you wish to speak to be again, I'm not that hard to find," he said.

She only nodded again, although she wasn't sure if she would ever take him up on it.

After AZ left, she wasn't sure how long she stood there, not thinking about anything in particular, but just… remembering. Then she heard familiar voices calling her name.

"There you are, Ava!" Shauna said. She had been more like herself recently. Avaline was glad. "Come on, the boring bit is over, there's going to be _dancing._ "

"If I have to suffer this, so do you," Calem told her with the air of a condemned prisoner. He grabbed her wrist while Avaline was laughing and dragged her over to where Shauna and Diantha were waiting, admiring a fountain designed around florges.

" _Korrina_ has asked me to dance," Diantha said, looking nearly as morose as Calem. "She's a beautiful dancer. I'm going to look so _ungainly._ I don't want to embarrass her!"

Avaline was sceptical that anything in the known universe could make Diantha seem 'ungainly', but it didn't seem like the right thing to say.

"It's okay!" Shauna said brightly, "Calem can dance with someone, and you won't look half so bad in comparison! He's _really_ terrible."

Calem let out a long-suffering sigh. "Wow, thanks, Shauna."

"But it's true!"

Avaline nudged him as they made their way back to the main palace building, Shauna still peppering Diantha with ego-boosting compliments and encouragements. "I'll tell you a secret," she said. "I can't dance, either."

Calem raised his eyebrows. "But I thought you'd been to this kind of thing before, with your mother? Didn't she teach you to dance?"

"No." Avaline snorted. "Mum's team had a strict timetable for keeping her occupied specifically so that she _wouldn't_ dance. One time she got drunk and danced anyway and broke a five hundred year old vase."

He had to press his lips together to keep from laughing.

Shauna turned back to look at them suspiciously. "Eh? Calem, you're not trying to poach the first dance from Ava, are you? I want to dance with her first!"

"Oh, she's all yours," Calem said blandly, and that's when Avaline started giggling uncontrollably.

Shauna didn't even mind that Avaline was a terrible dancer, and they all agreed that Calem was the worst of them all (even Calem). They gave up after a few songs and watched Korrina's dances become increasingly complicated, and still performed nearly flawlessly, until she pulled off spectacular lift with Diantha as though she weighed no more than a feather. Diantha blushed furiously.

It was the most fun Avaline had had in a long time. _It will always hurt,_ she decided, _but sometimes it won't be so bad._


	24. Epilogue: The Two Constants

Malva's trial was the last one to be held, and took nearly a year to put together. Avaline was glad of that, because her testimony and cross examination took a full day; she felt empty and exhausted afterwards, spending the evening crying, and was certain she wouldn't have been able to handle it if it had taken place any sooner.

Unlike in Johto, the Elite Four and Champion of Kalos were not involved in the day to day running of the country, and held no official government positions (they were, in fact, specifically banned from it). But they _were_ crucial to the running of the Pokemon League, which organised the Rangers and was responsible for overseeing the Gym circuit, and hugely influential. For a member of the Elite Four to have been secretly working for Team Flare…

It was difficult for Korrina. Her judgement was called into question a lot, particularly by the media, despite a vigorous defence from the other three of her Elite, the Gym Leaders, and Avaline herself. With the number of people who had seen her flying Atlas, the secret of mega evolution was out as well. Professor Sycamore had taken charge of investigating mega evolution and providing a full report for the scientific community, so not very much was known by the general public, but this didn't stop the media from attacking Korrina for keeping mega evolution a secret.

Her defenders weren't helped by the fact that she seemed to accept most of their criticisms as fact.

"No, they're right; I've been stretching myself too thin. The Battle Tower, mega evolution, _and_ the Championship…" Korrina sighed. "I should have been looking into it more carefully. A criminal organisation, coordinating attacks? That never ends well."

"You're not the only person in Kalos," Avaline insisted.

The idea that the Champion didn't hold any formal power had been a strange culture shock, but once she'd gotten used to it, she started getting frustrated with all the people trying to hold Korrina to account for crimes that she wasn't responsible for preventing. _Lance or Whitney didn't get this much hassle about the Goldenrod Radio Tower incident,_ Avaline thought, _and they're_ _ **officially**_ _supposed to prevent that sort of thing._

Since being the Champion of Kalos _wasn't_ an official position, though, it wasn't like they could remove Korrina from her position without her being dethroned by a challenger or removed by a majority vote of the Elite Four and Leaders. When Malva was imprisoned, the ice-type specialist from Snowbelle Gym, Wulfric, moved up into her position. Diantha took his spot as the eighth Gym, at Korrina's suggestion, whilst Arnaud was installed as a temporary measure as Leader of Shalour City Gym.

"Does this mean we have to fight Diantha twice?" Calem asked, pulling a face.

Avaline took a moment to register the 'we'. She'd never said she wouldn't finish the Gym circuit, like she'd originally promised, but doing so without Queenie seemed… wrong. When Appa moved over to Kalos, she would technically have a full team again, but she wasn't sure if that would be enough. "Eventually," she said vaguely.

Calem seemed to understand and didn't question her further.

She could see that _he_ was itching to get back into battling, though, so she agreed to go along with Shauna to cheer him on at the Anistar City Gym. Avaline felt a little bad; Calem's battle wasn't the only reason she wanted to go to Anistar, but it provided her with a good enough excuse for being in the area so that she didn't think her email came off too weird or presumptuous.

_Dear Dr. Schwarz,_

_I read your book, 'The Two Constants', and..._

 

Calem won his match pretty handily. With two dark types now, it would always have been an uphill struggle for Leader Olympia. It meant a lot to him, Avaline could tell, winning the badge at his mother's old Gym. She tried to show as much honest enthusiasm as she could, but she was still a little nervous about her meeting with Dr. Schwarz, who'd even suggested that Avaline and her friends come for tea at his _house._ Shauna had assured her that academics really _liked_ talking about their work – "Somebody once wrote to Daddy asking if they could talk to him about his PhD thesis, and I think he actually cried." – and Calem had pointed out that Avaline had done legitimate historical research, too. But a part of Avaline still felt like an imposter, asking a real historian to talk to her about his work.

Dr. Schwarz was a middle-aged man who spoke Kalosian with an unfamiliar accent, seeming much less intimidating in a knitted jumper which was starting to come unravelled at the sleeve. He beamed at all three of them, even though Avaline had stressed in her email that she was the only one who had even read his book. "Ah, and you need no introduction! Come in, come in, I have tea and biscuits…"

Avaline had had an idea in her head about him being some awkward person who would immediately start gushing about his work, but he made very commendable small talk and followed a play by play of Calem's battle at Anistar with polite, if not totally informed, interest. He did not mention Queenie, for which Avaline was grateful.

"A well fought match no doubt," Schwarz said, clapping his hands together. "Though I am no expert in the matter, as you had probably already noticed."

Silence fell. Avaline realised it was her cue to move on to the main point of the visit. She cleared her throat. "So, I – I liked your book." She immediately felt silly for saying it, since she had said exactly the same thing in her email. But Dr. Schwarz only smiled encouragingly, so she ploughed on. "And, um, I realise that what you said about there not being any conclusive evidence which proved Yveltal and Xerneas were real doesn't really apply anymore."

"An understatement," Schwarz agreed dryly. "Though I had always personally felt the legends had too much specific, and consistent, detail to not be based off _something_ real, so it's at least a sort of pyrrhic vindication."

"R-Right," Avaline said. "So I was thinking, in that light—your work on Xerneas—it might, um…" She forced herself not to lower her eyes. _I can be brave. After everything, I can be brave._ She couldn't stop herself from clasping her hands together very tightly in her lap. "It might… be possible to track Xerneas down."

"…What?" Shauna squeaked.

Calem had dropped his biscuit in his tea and was now caught between frowning at his cup and frowning at Avaline.

It was, to be fair to them, the first time she had ever voiced this thought out loud.

Schwarz nodded slowly, eyes looking at some point on the wall above Avaline's head. "Yes…" he said. "I suppose… sightings of Xerneas have been sparse and mostly unsubstantiated, even by the standards of the second- and third-hand accounts we have for Yveltal, _but_ it would be better than nothing."

Avaline felt like she owed him an explanation. "It's because – well, in your book, you said how they were always presented as constants and opposites, but actually Yveltal is always far more dominant in the culture, and writings, and… Xerneas ends up being an afterthought."

"One of the central theses of my work is that part of the reason that Yveltal became seen as a more actively malevolent – evil – figure over the past few thousand years was precisely _because_ Xerneas had retreated from the world—"

"It seemed pretty malevolent to me," Calem said.

Shauna shivered.

"It wasn't, really," Avaline replied without thinking. Every eye in the room was immediately on her; it even felt like the painting above the fireplace was watching her. She hadn't actually spoken about Yveltal at all, before. It had been a topic she'd refused to touch on in the handful of interviews she'd given, and she hadn't talked about it with her friends, either. It was too close to Queenie's death. She swallowed, but it seemed silly to stop there. "It… didn't really seem interested in us at all, honestly. Even when we attacked it, Yveltal only defended itself. It didn't pursue once we stopped. We were just sort of… irrelevant to it."

Even Queenie – even she, Avaline thought, had been killed by the falling debris. That's when Avaline had felt the connection go. Yveltal must have weakened her, and then, when she could no longer attack, simply ignored her and come out of the cave.

"The most controversial part of my theory," Schwarz said, after a pause, "was that there was a _real_ Xerneas which used to form a very literal balance to Yveltal's powers, which vanished after the Great Civil War."

"I think—" Avaline hesitated for a moment, but she'd seen Yveltal in the flesh, hadn't she? And she knew Xerneas was real as well, and could give life because of what had happened to AZ, although she didn't want to betray his privacy. She had a right to speak on this topic. "I think that you were right, in your book. Yveltal sucks out life energy, and Xerneas is said to give it – when there's two of them, Yveltal can get… maybe _all_ of its energy from Xerneas, but once Xerneas disappeared, Yveltal had to get it from… somewhere else."

Calem's eyes had been getting gradually wider and wider. "So, the only reason Yveltal kills all those pokemon is because… it has to, or it will die?"

Avaline nodded. "That's what all the legends say, anyway. I mean… this wasn't something you said in your book," she said to Schwarz, "but if you think about it, it can't be a _normal_ existence, to just… turn into a cocoon every thousand years until you're about to die, then come out to steal life energy only to spend another thousand years as a cocoon? Doesn't that sound more like… I don't know, hibernation or something? Like it's trying to conserve energy."

"All the oldest stories we have _do_ imagine Yveltal as an active agent," Schwarz said thoughtfully. "Even before the Great Civil War, where it isn't seen as evil, we have dozens of cave paintings where it's shown flying across the land, gathering souls under its wings – it's a very common image even after the war, although of course presented less benevolently. And, having seen the recording of the real thing, I must say that the paintings are all a remarkably accurate representation, even though they were made hundreds or even thousands of years apart."

Shauna made the connection straight away. "Oh! So you're saying that before the War – before Xerneas disappeared – people actually saw Yveltal all the time because it had a ready supply of energy from Xerneas? And the only reason our legends say every one thousand years is because it can't, uh, _eat_ all the time and has to use the cocoon form now." She bit her lip. "Doesn't that make Yveltal sound nicer? Maybe not _nice_ but… there's nothing stopping it from flying around, right? It could just… kill more people to take energy, I guess. But it's basically hibernating and only coming out to steal lives when it's about to die. And if _I_ could fly, I don't think I'd _like_ to stay as a cocoon for thousands of years."

"I… had not considered it in that light," Schwarz admitted.

Neither had Avaline. She'd only been thinking about what Victoire had said, how it was the duty of the masters of mega evolution to stop Yveltal however they could… but Korrina and even Arnaud had been surprised to hear about this connection at all. How could she guarantee that, in the next however many hundred years until Yveltal appeared again, the knowledge wouldn't be somehow lost again? But if she could break Yveltal from its thousand year cycle for good, then…

The idea that Yveltal might be trying to _limit_ the destruction it caused only made her more determined to find Xerneas and somehow convince it to restore the balance.

"Well," Schwarz said firmly, "this certainly makes the matter of finding Xerneas very urgent. I shall do whatever I can to help." He added, muttering under his breath, "Perhaps my bloody agent will stop going on about a revised edition now…"

 

Schwarz's agent was placated by the idea of Avaline collaborating with Dr. Schwarz on the revised edition in a few years: the agent was pleased with the idea of additional publicity, Avaline was pleased with the idea of being able to refer anyone who asked about the incident to Schwarz's book instead, and Schwarz wasn't pleased at all but presumably had a mortgage to pay or something.

The problem with trying to track down Xerneas was that… well… there wasn't much _to_ track. Unlike the fairly concrete, if brief, sightings of Yveltal, what information could be found about Xerneas was scant and unreliable. At least one sighting was someone confusing a sawsbuck – a native to Unova – with Xerneas; several others were the work of one man three hundred years ago who'd tried to start a cult on the basis of him being 'chosen by the Great Deer'. Reading about his hapless attempts to gain power was an amusing diversion but useless, as all of his accounts were probably made up.

A few sightings Avaline and Dr. Schwarz did have confidence in. They were able to compare the descriptions of Xerneas against the cave paintings they had. Since they now knew they gave a pretty accurate depiction of Yveltal, it stood to reason they would probably be a good likeness to the other legendary pokemon, too. But one of those accounts was a second hand transcription of someone who had died roughly a thousand years ago. The other was better, but still three hundred and fifty years old.

 _How on earth did Team Flare find Yveltal like this?_ Avaline didn't often think about them, anymore. Sometimes she saw a flash of orange on the street and had to suppress a shudder, but of course no one wore the distinctive suits anymore. Even if they were a member of Team Flare who just hadn't been caught, you wouldn't want to draw attention to yourself in the current climate. Geosenge Town was still a raw enough wound that the response was guaranteed to be nasty.

Still. Sometimes Avaline resented how much things had come together for Team Flare, like the universe had been on their side. Need a master ball? Oh look, someone has the plans to build one and they told Professor Sycamore about it, who told Lysandre. Even better, they have a prototype. Legendary pokemon seen only once every thousand years? Find out about and capture the one person, AZ, who actually knows where it is.

It was a particularly sour feeling as Avaline stared at the map of Kalos, their best guessed at the confirmed sightings marked with black crosses . A few of the plausible but unconfirmed sightings had been added in green, as well, but they seemed even more random. Even the _locations_ weren't a certain thing – some of those settlements and landmarks simply didn't exist anymore. They were concentrated on the central and eastern parts of Kalos, but considering the size of the region, that wasn't especially helpful.

Avaline stared at the map until her vision started to go blurry. She sighed, and crept to the kitchen to make some tea. Johto stirred at the movement and padded after her. He didn't like to leave her anymore, not even in safe places like the Battle Tower.

With three months' work on finding Xerneas and nothing to show for it, her mother's requests that she come back home were starting to get more insistent. Avaline wasn't alone in the Tower anymore, either, so the thought of _home_ had its pull, but… for the most part it wasn't trainers in the Tower, but survivors of Geosenge Town whose homes had yet to be rebuilt. They seemed to accept that Avaline had lost something, too, and treated her with respect, but also like she was a normal person. Every phone conversation with her mother was like trying not to walk on invisible eggshells.

Avaline was quite happy to stay here for a little longer. Maybe she'd take Arnaud up on his offer to study more of the history of mega evolution, see if she could collate it into some kind of useful order. It wasn't like she had to find Xerneas immediately; she had a whole lifetime to search, if she wanted.

The kitchen wasn't as deserted as she thought, the scent of a familiar brand of coffee lingering in the air.

"Oh, Avaline," Diantha said. "You're up late."

She tried to say it in an accusing way but yawned immediately afterwards, so it lost its effect a little.

Avaline smiled and busied herself with her tea. She took a seat at the breakfast bar whilst waiting for it to brew. "I didn't know you were coming."

"It's a—a—" Diantha yawned again. "Surprise," she added, belatedly. "For Korrina. I finished working on the script for the film about Charlotte DuBois, so I wanted her to see it immediately."

"So you came here all the way from Snowbelle City?"

"Yes, all right, you needn't look like that," Diantha mumbled.

Avaline didn't really have the heart to chastise her, and anyway it seemed a bit hypocritical to nag at someone _else_ about pushing themselves too hard, so she let the issue drop. "I didn't know you wrote scripts, too?"

"Well, I don't really," she said. "But I read all of Charlotte's books—her letters—" There was a dreamy look in her eyes. "The first time I came here I was still in the middle of collecting my Gym Badges. My acting career was just about taking off then and everyone said I couldn't do both, you know, and I just wanted to prove them wrong so badly… in retrospect it was a little insulting to compare balancing career and hobby to fighting for the right to be a trainer _at all_ but… Charlotte DuBois was my hero then. And meeting her grandson! I think I almost cried when he said I could have a look at some of her private journals." She was smiling fondly at the recollection. "This film is so important to me. I just want it to do her justice, you know? So I asked the Director if I could rewrite some of her lines, just to make her voice… authentic."

"It sounds great," Avaline said honestly.

"How's your work going?"

Avaline hadn't been looking forward to that question. At least it was Diantha, not her mother. "It's kind of… not."

"Ah." Diantha winced in sympathy. "Want me to take a look? Sometimes a fresh pair of eyes helps."

A part of her wanted to say no, she wanted to do this by herself. But… she hadn't really done it by herself, anyway, and it seemed silly to turn down Diantha's expertise, when she'd already had the benefit of Dr. Schwarz's knowledge and Shauna's analytical mind.

"Oh… I see what you mean," Diantha said, tracing a route between the Xs on Avaline's map. "They do seem a little random… this one, here, is right next to Santalune City, but then this one here is all the way up by Anistar…" Then Diantha stopped, suddenly. She looked at the map again. Avaline watched as her eyes were drawn to Snowbelle City, where Diantha's new Gym position was. "Do you have any old maps? I have an idea."

Marking the sightings on older maps, didn't immediately make things more obvious to Avaline, but then again they only had reliable maps stretching back a few hundred years or so, and many of the sightings were older than that – some of them vastly older.

It was enough to make Diantha smile, though. "I think this is it… the Winding Woods!"

Avaline frowned, staring at the oldest map they had. Snowbelle City didn't exist on this map, which wasn't surprising, as it had only sprung into existence with the discovery of a nearby coal mine and the map was four hundred years old. Instead, the area was completely covered by the Winding Woods, up to the very edge of what was modern day Couriway Town but what was a monastery on the old map.

And then suddenly it clicked.

"If the Winding Woods used to extend out here, through this pass…" That was where Victory Road was today, or at least the entrance. "Then that makes a lot of these sightings happen at the edge of the woods." She frowned. "But could Xerneas still be there? The area the woods cover today is tiny by comparison. Surely more people would've seen it if it was hiding in there."

"Do you know how the Winding Woods gets its name?" Diantha said, undaunted. "It's home to a large number of ghost pokemon who use their powers to confuse travellers, making the paths go to places that they shouldn't, turning around any trainers who they see as too aggressive. There's a little-known location in the centre of the woods called the Pokemon Village, a refuge for abused pokemon. Wulfric told me about it when I became the Snowbelle Leader." She looked sheepish suddenly. "I'm not actually supposed to tell anyone about it, but I figure if it's you, it's fine."

"A pokemon refuge?" Avaline supposed if the Winding Woods could conceal a pokemon village, Xerneas could probably stay hidden there with the cooperation of the ghost type pokemon.

 

The gloomy Winding Woods certainly fit the profile of a stereotypical haunted forest. The trees were tall and packed close together, creating the feeling of a large, cavernous maw, waiting to swallow passing travellers whole. Avaline shivered and pulled her thick coat tighter. It wasn't quite as cold in Snowbelle City as it had been in Frost Cavern, but it was a close run thing.

Nyx, Diantha's gourgeist, made a questioning howl. It seemed to echo and not to come from the gourgeist's mouth at all. Avaline suppressed another shiver. Nyx had spent months befriending the ghost type pokemon of Winding Woods to make Avaline's job easier, and she had been nothing but friendly, occasionally randomly patting her hair. It wasn't fair to treat Nyx any differently than any other pokemon just because she was a ghost-type.

"We're just waiting for someone," Avaline said.

They didn't have to wait for long. Nyx made a drawn out coo of interest as AZ's giant figure approached. She floated all the way up to be level with his face and studied it intently, floating backwards in time with AZ's pace. He didn't seem perturbed at all, and only laughed when Nyx stole his hat and put it on her own head.

"This is one of Diantha's pokemon," Avaline said, gesturing vaguely. "Nyx, give AZ's hat back; it's cold out for humans, you know."

Nyx seemed to consider this, and decided that an acceptable compromise would be for her to sit on AZ's head. He laughed again and patted the gourgeist's pumpkin-like body.

His smile faltered as he met Avaline's eyes. "Are you… sure this will work?" he said.

Avaline thought about the weight of the sixth pokeball at her belt. Logically, she knew it didn't look or feel any different to a normal pokeball. But she was also hyper aware that that should be _Queenie's_ space.

"No," she said bluntly. "But I think… for their sake, we have to at least try."

AZ seemed to accept this. Nyx let out a few haunting notes of her song, but clapped her hands together rapidly, so it was probably just excitement. What a weird pokemon she was.

They went into the woods.

As soon as they were completely under the cover of the trees, Avaline felt as though she was being watched. They probably were, but it was still an uncomfortable feeling. Nyx waved her arms about, sometimes to give directions, and sometimes seemingly just for the fun of waving at things.

In the woods themselves, it was even colder than it had been in Snowbelle City, although the tree cover meant that there were only tiny patches of snow. When they made it into a large clearing, the light reflecting off the thick blanket of snow covering the ground was nearly dazzling.

Except, Avaline realised, it didn't cover the ground completely. There were footprints in the snow, and some larger tracks that had displaced it altogether, so that you could see the grass that lay underneath. There were some makeshift shelters which had left perfectly square patches of green. _Is this that Pokemon Village Diantha was talking about?_ There were no pokemon in sight, though.

AZ whistled suddenly, making Avaline jump. She'd nearly forgotten that he was there. He'd been quiet on the way here. He was probably nervous about meeting Xerneas, too. More nervous than her – for good reason.

Avaline saw something move in the trees out of the corner of her eye. Diantha had said this place was a refuge for abused pokemon. She made sure to keep her movements slow and unthreatening. It was a furfrou there, watching them carefully. Watching _her_ carefully, she realised.

There was a small, excited trill from behind her, and she turned to see a fletchling fly out of the trees to land on AZ's arm. One of its eyes was missing. The socket was pitted and that entire half of its head badly scarred. Avaline felt a little ill, thinking of innocent Marie. How could people do such things to pokemon?

The fletchling didn't seem frightened, though, even though AZ was so much larger than it.

"Do you come here often?" Avaline asked him – softly, so as not to frighten any of the pokemon.

"Every few years or so," he said, more interested in stroking the fletchling's feathers.

Which made sense, Avaline thought. How would abused pokemon ever learn about a refuge like this, pretty much out in the middle of nowhere, and hidden by the ghost-types to boot? Or maybe the ghost pokemon made the Winding Woods so confusing because the refuge was there? It was called the Winding Woods, or sometimes Weirding Woods, as far back as the maps Avaline had access to would allow her to see, but that didn't mean much if AZ had been travelling the land for three thousand years. He could have asked the ghost pokemon here to defend the village generations upon generations ago, and the ghost pokemon had continued that tradition amongst their own families.

The thought made her feel more confident. If Xerneas was here, surely the Pokemon Village would prove that AZ had learnt whatever lesson it had wanted him to learn. And if Xerneas _wasn't_ here, well, they would just have to try somewhere else.

Avaline felt tangled fur under her hand. Obediently, she petted the furfrou, who seemed pleased at the attention. Nyx came down to say hello, which the furfrou basically ignored – until Nyx started to pat it too, giggling madly. The frufrou's tail began to wag.

All kinds of pokemon were emerging from the trees, or from hiding behind piles of wood, or even from shimmery psychic illusions. There were so many. It made Avaline sad and happy at the same time. It was good that the pokemon here were able to help each other and get away but… to think that all of them had suffered cruelty in their lives was heartbreaking.

 _Well, maybe not all of them,_ Avaline amended, watching a tiny eevee no more than a few weeks old trying to walk through snow that came up to its chin, ignoring the urgent chittering of what must be its parent – another eevee with one of its ears missing. The other parent was a sylveon, who was seemingly content to nudge the little one along whenever it got stuck. It took a few moments of watching it for Avaline to realise that one of its front paws was entirely gone; the leg ended in a smoothed-over stump. Despite that, the sylveon walked gracefully and without faltering. It must be an old wound.

It was the sylveon who came towards them. It ignored Avaline and AZ entirely at first, directly some kind of gruff bark at Nyx, who answered cheerfully. There were a few more exchanges which Avaline couldn't interpret, but eventually the sylveon turned towards Avaline and let out a _yip._ Its ribbon-like feelers grabbed hold of her arm and pulled her along, although it let go after it was sure she was following. Nyx took a few seconds to wave goodbye to the pokemon before she sat atop AZ's head again. It only took him a few massive strides to catch up to Avaline.

The sylveon led Avaline to the northern side of the clearing, to a patch of woodland that looked, if anything, _more_ densely packed with vegetation. But as they approached the illusion faded away, showing that there was a narrow, overgrown path through the trees.

Avaline noticed that the rest of the pokemon had stayed on the other side of the clearing. Even the sylveon's partner, pacing anxiously, would not come too close to this patch of the woods. She glanced around and saw that the path had been given a wide berth – their footprints were the first ones to disturb the snow within several metres.

Whatever Xerneas's reputation amongst humans, the pokemon, at least, did not want to go near it. Avaline should probably feel more uneasy about that, but she had coped well enough with Yveltal's presence.

The sylveon took a few steps along the path, shuddering briefly before motioning them onwards. As soon as they were under the cover of the trees again, Avaline understood why. If Yveltal's presence had felt cold, _numbing,_ then Xerneas's was more like burning. Everything seemed more vivid to Avaline's eyes, the greens of the trees were brighter and she could pick out individual veins on each leaf. Her nose filled with the crisp scent of the new fallen snow, the leaf litter, the tree sap. Even the shadows seemed to have different gradients of colour. Every breath felt like an adrenaline rush, and Avaline was suddenly hyper aware of every part of her body; the fabric of her gloves against the pads of her fingers, the tickle of her hair against her ear; and again she felt Yveltal's pokeball as a palpable weight at her hip and a sense of anticipation from inside.

She looked over her shoulder at AZ, who had gone pale under his weather beaten tan. He gave a tight nod, swallowing. Avaline heard the sound like it was right next to her ear. She didn't press him for more.

They followed the sylveon along the path. The closer they got to Xerneas, the more it felt like spring. The air was still cold – there was even the odd patch of snow that had found gaps in the trees – but the forest was filled with flowers. Their scent on the air was so thick that Avaline choked, pulling her scarf up over her nose to try to stifle it a little. Honeysuckle, roses, fuchsias, and plenty of flowers she didn't recognise lay thick on the ground, so many that Avaline couldn't help but tread on them. They grew in places where no flower should naturally have been able to grow, dark patches that were almost completely shaded by the trees.

No, it wasn't just flowers. If it had been, it might have been beautiful, if overwhelming. But the moss on the ground was a thick, damp carpet which Avaline's shoes sunk into by at least an inch; fungi were growing wherever there was space, and some of the trees themselves were so covered in them that their bark was almost entirely hidden from view. She saw one tree which was tilted precariously, half its roots exposed from the soil, weighed down by a truly enormous mass of fungi in its upper branches that resembled a tumour. Avaline's stomach turned over and she averted her eyes. This wasn't spring – this was… grotesque.

Perhaps the sylveon had similar thoughts, because it stopped then, motioning Avaline and AZ onwards. There was another break in the trees a few metres ahead. When the sylveon was satisfied they knew where they were heading, it bobbed its head at Nyx and then took off towards the Pokemon Village at a run.

It didn't really bode well for them, but Avaline had come too far to turn back now. _It's just like Dr. Schwarz said,_ she thought, _Xerneas and Yveltal are supposed to be in_ _ **balance.**_

They emerged into another clearing, smaller than the last one – or maybe it was that it was just dominated by the enormous, white tree in the centre. The grooves in its bark suggested a face – there, the eyes, sharp and slanted and there, the mouth, solemn and patient.

_No. Not just a tree._

"Be careful," AZ said.

Avaline realised she had been walking towards it without quite meaning to. She stopped, her hands within touching distance, staring at the unnaturally smooth form of the bark… but, she noticed, there were no flowers growing on _this_ tree.

She took a step backward, instead. "Xerneas?"

She didn't expect the tree – Xerneas – to acknowledge her at all, but the reaching branches shifted slightly, although there was no breeze. At least it had acknowledged that they were here.

Avaline wasn't sure how to proceed. Information about Xerneas, even more than sightings, was rare, and all of it filtered through the last few thousand years' interpretation of Xerneas as a benevolent god. Avaline thought of the tumour-tree, and of AZ's curse. _Powerful enough to be a god, maybe. But I wouldn't say benevolent._

In the end, she felt that Yveltal's presence could give a better account of why they were here than anything they could say for themselves. She wasn't even sure if AZ _could_ talk right now; he looked like he wanted to be sick. Nyx had wrapped her arms around his shoulder as an attempt at comfort.

When Yveltal came out of the pokeball, the whole world dimmed. It was a relief, but so sudden that Avaline had to fight to keep her breathing calm and steady against the feeling of suddenly too-thin air. It took a moment to realise that Yveltal's aura hadn't kicked in, either. _They cancel each other out._

The thought of _balance_ , that maybe something right had come out of this entire mess after all, made Avaline smile. She didn't even falter when Yveltal turned its gaze on her again. There might have been some kind of question in the tilt of its head, but she didn't have any real way of knowing. After a moment, Yveltal turned away from Avaline, and touched its nose gently to the white bark of the tree. The entire tree shuddered and started to glow. Yveltal jumped back as it started to compress and shrink, and the bark changed into a rainbow of colours, until it was Xerneas standing there, quiet and still.

Yveltal and Xerneas simply looked at each other for several minutes. Avaline breathed softly, scared of what might happen if she disturbed them.

Eventually, Xerneas turned to look at her. Its eyes weren't as sinister-looking as Yveltal, but there was still something alien about them, something that seemed to look straight through her _._ After a few moments, holding its gaze, she realised that it wanted her to say something.

She had been planning to mention the graves around Geosenge Town; all those lives lost, needlessly. But looking at Xerneas now, she wasn't sure it would understand – or care. Avaline's lifetime to it was no more significant than the flowers that bloomed beneath its feet. What would a thousand more be? Would it be any more meaningful than the plants and fungi around the clearing, most of which would surely die without Xerneas's presence?

"I think," she said instead, weighing each word carefully, "that Yveltal would like to fly again."

Xerneas tilted its head. The absurdly large antlers looked like they should've unbalanced it, but Xerneas didn't seem to even notice the weight. When Avaline did not immediately respond, it took a step closer. There was a surprisingly soft puff of its breath over her hand. Avaline realised that she was still holding the master ball.

Very deliberately, she opened her palm and let it drop to the floor, then crushed it beneath her heel.

Xerneas drew back, satisfied. It passed Avaline without a second glance and strode towards AZ.

He had to push Nyx away three times before she would leave. She came to float by Avaline instead. Avaline let the gourgeist settle in her arms as they watched anxiously, suppressing a shudder at how cold she felt, even through her thick jacket.

Xerneas did not seem to ask AZ anything at all. The silence stretched on until Avaline saw something small shift in Xerneas's antlers. Slowly, it drifted down.

AZ held out his trembling palms and the floette settled into them like she had always been there. He was crying.

Avaline averted her eyes and swallowed past the lump in her throat. She wouldn't ever get Queenie back. It wasn't – it wasn't jealousy, exactly. AZ had spent the equivalent of countless lifetimes walking the earth, knowing his pokemon was there, but wouldn't come to him. It wasn't possible to wish to take this moment away from him. But it _was_ hard to see the joy on his face, knowing it was something she'd never feel.

Avaline turned to go. AZ would be able to find his own way out. Some of the flowers in the woods were already starting to wither. The air didn't feel as cloyingly sweet. It felt… better. In her arms, Nyx made no noise of protest, abnormally subdued.

 _Balance,_ she reminded herself. With Xerneas and Yveltal reunited, there would be no more deaths to prevent every thousand years, and Kalos would be safe again. She expected to feel more accomplished, knowing this was done, but instead she just felt tired. _Queenie would be proud,_ Avaline told herself. It was true, but without Queenie there, the idea of feeling proud seemed… hollow.

Of course it did. Avaline hadn't quite realised how much of her had been hoping that restoring the balance between the legendary pokemon would suddenly resolve all her feelings as well. But it didn't work like that. Perhaps she had restored some kind of balance, but it wasn't an eternal, unchanging thing; it would need to be maintained. Maybe someone else would get the idea to use the legendary pokemon for their own ends, like Team Flare. Maybe someone else would try to use their power for something selfish and chase them away, like AZ all that time ago. And even besides that, bad things would go on happening, people and pokemon hurting for no real reason at all.

She emerged into the Pokemon Village clearing, grateful for the difference in the air, which was merely sharp and cold and not weighed down by any feeling of power. The pokemon seemed excited to welcome her back, jumping and barking and singing. Nyx perked up quickly and floated over to play. She was still wearing AZ's hat, but Avaline didn't think he would mind.

It was hard, to keep finding reasons to keep working every day to be that person that Queenie would be proud of; to set goals, to _want_ to achieve things. And yet, watching the tiny baby eevee chase after Nyx, trying to pounce on her (much to her amusement) – thinking, _yes, this is what we're trying to protect_ – it didn't feel like it would be so hard after all.

 _If we're going to wait for AZ,_ she decided, _I might as well let everyone have some fun while we wait._

Ariel, Johto, Brittany, and Senshi all came out. Atlas was last of all, because he was quite a bit larger than the other pokemon in the clearing and she wasn't quite sure how they would react to him. But they didn't seem bothered at all. The furfrou that Avaline had been petting earlier came to talk to Atlas without fear.

Brittany gave her a careful once over, before letting out a trill. Avaline watched all her pokemon relax, one by one, at hearing that she was unhurt. That was always the first thing any of them did whenever released from their pokeballs. It wasn't the worst thing that could have stuck with them.

Atlas settled down to tell his war stories. (They might regret asking.) Senshi hovered nearby, occasionally putting in what Avaline assumed was a correction, judging by the irritated looks Atlas gave him. Johto stuck by Atlas for a moment, but was soon bored by the stories he'd heard a dozen times already, and took off to play with Nyx and the eevee family instead. Brittany fussed over their rambunctious play, using her Heal Pulse to soothe over any cuts and grazes. She didn't seem to realise that this only encouraged them.

And Ariel stood by Avaline's shoulder, watching them all with wary eyes. He must be the one on self-appointed guard duty today, Avaline thought ruefully. But in some ways, it was nice to have him there, too; that after everything, he still chose Avaline over Korrina.

The tiny baby eevee was chasing after Johto, and losing terribly, since Johto seemed to have forgotten the need to slow down. Avaline very carefully compacted a snowball in her gloved hands and gave Ariel a cheeky smile.

When she threw it, the snowball _should_ have missed Johto by a foot, but it mysteriously changed direction mid throw. Johto crashed into the snow with a yelp, and the baby eevee was soon on him, yipping excitedly and licking Johto's face.

Avaline laughed and bumped fists with Ariel. She would have to remember to bring Appa here, too, when the last bits of paperwork were _finally_ approved.

_It's alright. If we keep going together, we'll do just fine._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's all she wrote.
> 
> If you're reading this, thanks for sticking with me through this long fic. It's been great seeing your responses. As this is the last chapter, I would appreciate it all the more if you could leave a short review with how you enjoyed the fic. What did you think of Avaline? Who was your favourite character? Favourite pokemon? Which bit of the worldbuilding did you like best? Which scene was your favourite? Conversely, was there anything in the fic you didn't like? Even if you can't pinpoint exactly why it didn't work for you, it's still valuable for me to know!
> 
> Even if you're coming to this fic months or even years after I wrote it, I'd still like to hear from you. I got a review the other day on a fic I last updated in 2011, and honestly? It made my week. When I say I love all kinds of feedback, I really mean it!
> 
> Thanks again to everyone for reading, leaving kudos, and commenting. I hope you enjoyed the story.


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